Brazilian H2 July ethanol split falls but production still up 3% on year

In Brazil, Reuters reports UNICA data shows ethanol production gave way to sugar production during the second half of July with sugar mills dedicating 52.3% of sugarcane crushed during the period to ethanol compared to 53.8% during the same period last year, indicating that sugar is currently more profitable to produce than ethanol. Ethanol production during the period rose nearly 3% on the year to 2.41 billion liters. Ethanol sales fell 6.6% in July, however, reflecting the shift in fuel taxes negatively impacted ethanol’s competitiveness against gasoline.