Brazil’s Ethanol Program Struggles to Make a Dent

Brazil’s booming ethanol industry has won international acclaim, but recent supply and pricing problems suggest that it’s not the grand solution to tight oil supplies and ever-rising prices that had been hoped.

Brazilian ethanol producers are struggling to keep up with domestic demand for ethanol, which is projected to grow by 50 percent over the next five years. Yet a 15 percent jump in prices earlier this year sparked a sharp drop in consumption. Even so, suppliers are struggling to plant enough fields of new sugar cane, from which ethanol is produced here, to keep up with the anticipated growth in demand.
SanLuisObispo.com