High international price of Sugar worked as great incentive for Brazilian mills to turn to Sugar production rather ethanol.... Sugar production up 15% YoY and ethanol just 7% YoY....
The scarcity of sugar products in Brazil, the top producer, has led the country to turn to the US for corn-based ethanol to replenish depleted supplies of its own cane-based alternative, Agrimoney.com has learned. Brazil's North East region has, in an unusual if not unprecedented move, begun importing US ethanol to replenish supplies lost as soaring sugar prices encouraged mills to turn cane into sweeteners rather than biofuels. The move defies typical industry dynamics which, as sugar ethanol is less energy-intensive to manufacture than America's corn-based biofuel, typically makes Brazil's version significantly more competitive.
http://www.agrimoney.com/news/exclusive---sugar-squeezed-brazil-buys-us-ethanol--2888.html
