June 30, 2020 | Joe Rowley
Rising ethanol and sugar prices are bringing much-needed relief to Brazil´s debt-laden producers. Resolving the industry´s structural and financial weaknesses will be much more difficult
Brazil´s ethanol and sugar (E&S) producers are no stranger to market volatility. From political and economic turmoil, to poor harvests and abrupt regulatory U-turns, crises have been a feature of the ethanol sector since its government-led launch almost half a century ago.
Global pandemic should now be added to this list. In April, the sector was plunged into crisis as measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus shuttered vast swathes of the Brazilian economy and confined people to their homes.
E&S companies are not alone in feeling the pain from a crisis that is expected to plunge the country into one of its worst ever recessions. But producers found themselves