Latest news with #ethanol
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sugar Prices Slip on Signs of Stronger Sugar Output in Brazil
October NY world sugar #11 (SBV25) today is down -0.08 (-0.48%), and October London ICE white sugar #5 (SWV25) is down -4.30 (-0.90%). Sugar prices are under pressure today on signs of stronger global sugar production in Brazil after Brazil's ministry of agriculture and livestock said that sugar output totaled almost 3.4 MMT over the last 15 days. More News from Barchart Brazil Harvest Pressures and Easing Tariff Fears Undercut Coffee Prices Coffee Harvest Pressures in Brazil Weigh on Coffee Prices Cocoa Prices Slump as the Dollar Rallies Our exclusive Barchart Brief newsletter is your FREE midday guide to what's moving stocks, sectors, and investor sentiment - delivered right when you need the info most. Subscribe today! Losses in sugar prices are limited after the price of WTI crude oil (CLU5) rose to a 5-week high today, which benefits ethanol prices and may prompt the world's sugar mills to divert cane crushing toward ethanol production rather than sugar, thus curbing sugar supplies. Signs that the recent slide in sugar prices to 4-year lows has sparked a pickup in demand are positive for sugar prices. China's June sugar imports soared by 1,435% to 420,000 MT. Also, President Trump last Wednesday said Coca-Cola agreed to use cane sugar in Coke beverages sold in the US instead of high-fructose corn syrup, which could boost US sugar consumption by +4.4% to 11.5 MMT from 11 MMT currently, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. The outlook for higher sugar production in Brazil is bearish for sugar prices. Datagro said Monday that dry weather in Brazil has encouraged the country's sugar mills to increase their cane crushing, diverting more of the cane crush toward more profitable sugar production rather than ethanol. According to Covrig, Brazil's sugar mills are expected to crush 54% of the available cane in the first half of this month, likely adding 3.2 MMT of sugar into the market. Last Wednesday, sugar prices fell to 3-week lows after Bloomberg reported that India may permit local sugar mills to export sugar in the next season, which starts in October, as abundant monsoon rains may produce a bumper sugar crop. India's Meteorological Department reported Monday that cumulative monsoon rain in India is at 440.1 mm, or 8% above normal as of July 27. The outlook for higher sugar production in India, the world's second-largest producer, is bearish for prices. On June 2, India's National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories projected that India's 2025/26 sugar production would climb +19% y/y to 35 MMT, citing larger planted cane acreage. That would follow a -17.5% y/y decline in India's sugar production in 2024/25 to a 5-year low of 26.2 MMT, according to the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA). Also, the ISMA reported on July 7 that India's sugar production during Oct 1-May 15 fell -17% y/y to 25.74 MMT. Sugar prices have retreated over the past three months, with NY sugar falling to a 4.25-year low earlier this month and London sugar sliding to a nearly 4-year low, driven by expectations of a sugar surplus in the 2025/26 season. On June 30, commodities trader Czarnikow projected a 7.5 MMT global sugar surplus for the 2025/26 season, the largest surplus in 8 years. On May 22, the USDA, in its biannual report, projected that global 2025/26 sugar production would increase by +4.7% y/y to a record 189.318 MMT, with global sugar ending stocks at 41.188 MMT, up 7.5% y/y. Sugar prices also have support from reduced sugar production in Brazil. Unica reported last Monday that the cumulative 2025/26 Brazil Center-South sugar output through June fell by -14.3% y/y to 12.249 MMT. Last month, Conab, Brazil's government crop forecasting agency, said 2024/25 Brazil sugar production fell by -3.4% y/y to 44.118 MMT, citing lower sugarcane yields due to drought and excessive heat. The outlook for higher sugar production in Thailand is bearish for sugar prices. On May 2, Thailand's Office of the Cane and Sugar Board reported that Thailand's 2024/25 sugar production rose +14% y/y to 10.00 MMT. Thailand is the world's third-largest sugar producer and the second-largest exporter of sugar. The International Sugar Organization (ISO) raised its 2024/25 global sugar deficit forecast to a 9-year high of -5.47 MMT on May 15, up from a February forecast of -4.88 MMT. This indicates a tightening market following the 2023/24 global sugar surplus of 1.31 MMT. ISO also cut its 2024/25 global sugar production forecast to 174.8 MMT from a February forecast of 175.5 MMT. The USDA, in its bi-annual report released May 22, projected that global 2025/26 sugar production would climb +4.7% y/y to a record 189.318 MMT and that global 2025/26 human sugar consumption would increase +1.4% y/y to a record 177.921 MMT. The USDA also forecasted that 2025/26 global sugar ending stocks would climb +7.5% y/y to 41.188 MMT. The USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) predicted that Brazil's 2025/26 sugar production would rise +2.3% y/y to a record 44.7 MMT FAS predicted that India's 2025/26 sugar production would rise +25% y/y to 35.3 MMT due to favorable monsoon rains and increased sugar acreage. FAS predicted that Thailand's 2025/26 sugar production will climb +2% y/y to 10.3 MMT. On the date of publication, Rich Asplund did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on
Japan Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Delayed pricing policy for cleaner ethanol keeps India burning food for fuel
India's push for ethanol, mixing crop-based biofuel with petrol to run vehicles, is being stalled by slow progress in making an environmentally cleaner version of the fuel, producers and experts say. Standing in the way is the government's failure to pay more for cleaner ethanol, which is made from waste but costs more to produce, they say. Second-generation (2G) ethanol, which uses crop waste instead of valuable food crops, offers a way to cut planet-heating emissions, reduce oil imports and avoid making fuel from food needed for human consumption. But producers say the government must pay a separate, appropriate price for the more costly 2G ethanol. "Without a separate pricing policy for 2G ethanol, the economics do not work," said Monish Ahuja, managing director of Punjab Renewable Energy Systems (PRESPL), which supplies farm waste to 2G plants. Investors will not join in unless they see returns that reflect the higher cost of making the biofuel, Ahuja said. "That's the bottleneck," he said. The Indian government wants all petrol sold in the country to contain 20% ethanol by October 2025, and has ramped up ethanol production by diverting food crops like sugarcane, maize and surplus rice to make fuel known as first-generation (1G) ethanol. The 1G production reduces the availability of grains for people and cattle and shifts land away from food production. India allocated a record 5.2 million metric tons of rice for 1G ethanol, nearly 9% of global rice shipments, in the course of a year spanning 2024 and 2025. The 2G ethanol can be made by breaking down tough plant waste like straw or husk into fermentable sugars using newer technology. It also could help curb stubble burning, a key cause of air pollution in India, in which crop remnants are set ablaze post-harvest. So far, 2G ethanol makes up very little — some say less than 1% — of India's annual biofuel production, which the government said topped 7 billion liters in October 2024. The lack of 2G ethanol production is mostly due to a lack of differentiated procurement pricing by the government and higher production costs, experts say. The Indian government does not make specific figures available on its 2G ethanol production. The government has considered a separate rate for 2G ethanol, according to minutes of a high-level committee meeting from July 2023. The price was expected in April 2025, according to reports in Indian media, but no announcement has been made. To promote the newer fuel, the Indian government launched a national program in 2019, with a budget of 1.97 billion Indian rupees ($227.76 million) to provide financial assistance for setting up commercial and demonstration-scale 2G ethanol plants. However, of the 12 plants it set out to establish across India, only one demonstration plant is operational. The Indian ministry responsible for biofuel production did not respond to requests for comment. Among the challenges in scaling up 2G ethanol production are the costly enzymes, pre-treatment of waste and logistics required by the process, said Y.B. Ramakrishna, senior vice-president of the Indian Federation of Green Energy (IFGE). India generates hundreds of millions of metric tons of agricultural waste annually, which could fuel hundreds of 2G biofuel plants, experts say. But the waste needs to be collected, dried, stored and transported from small farms scattered across wide areas, said Ramya Natarajan, a research scientist at the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP). The costs can add up, making financial support and pricing clarity for 2G ethanol critical, experts said. "At least for the initial three to four years, a higher price is essential," Ramakrishna said. Without a separate price for 2G and a target for its procurement, even financially ready firms are unable to raise funds from banks or commit to long-term plans, Ahuja said. Unlike 1G ethanol, which has a guaranteed market through oil marketing companies' procurement, the lack of a separate 2G ethanol blending target leaves the greener alternative to compete for customers with the cheaper 1G ethanol. Contained in India's ethanol blending policy of 20% ethanol in petrol by the end of 2025, there is no subtarget for 2G ethanol blending to help guarantee production.
Bloomberg
17-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
World's First Ethanol-to-Jet Plant to Start Running After Delay
The world's first factory designed to make green jet fuel from ethanol is expected to start operations before the end of the year after several delays, according to owner LanzaJet Inc. The $200 million facility in rural Georgia, initially scheduled to start commercial production last year, is now expected to begin operating by the end of September, LanzaJet Chief Executive Officer Jimmy Samartzis said in an interview. The latest delay was the result of equipment issues, he said.
Bloomberg
17-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
UK Hydrogen Firm Warns of Spillover From Ethanol Plant Closures
Nascent green energy companies that are needed to decarbonize the UK warned they would be hurt by the closure of the country's ethanol industry. British ethanol makers are facing imminent shutdown due to competition from a wave of cheap product unleashed by a deal with the US that lifted tariffs. It's 'critical' that the Vivergo Fuels plant remains open to support the wider development of sustainable fuels in northeast England, said Richard Clark, development director at Meld Energy.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Corn Bulls Post Gains on Wednesday
Corn futures extended the strength on Wednesday, as contracts were 4 to 5 cents in the green at the final bell. The front month CmdtyView national average Cash Corn price was up 4 1/4 cents at $3.92 3/4. EIA data released this morning put average daily ethanol production at 1.087 million barrels per day during the week that ended on July 11, up 2,000 bpd the previous week. Ethanol stocks were down 324,000 barrels to 23.635 million barrels. That was despite exports slipping 27,000 bpd to 94,000 bpd, with refiner inputs slipping 22,000 bpd to 880,000 bpd. More News from Barchart Coffee Prices Fall Back After Monday's Surge Coffee Prices Fall Back After Monday's Surge Cocoa Prices Fall on Weak Malaysian Demand Report Stop Missing Market Moves: Get the FREE Barchart Brief – your midday dose of stock movers, trending sectors, and actionable trade ideas, delivered right to your inbox. Sign Up Now! Export Sales data will be released on Thursday morning, with the trade looking for old crop bookings in a range of 0.5 to 1.2 MMT. New crop sales are seen in a range of 400,000-900,000 MT. Sep 25 Corn closed at $4.05 1/4, up 4 cents, Nearby Cash was $3.92 3/4, up 4 1/4 cents, Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.24, up 4 1/4 cents, Mar 26 Corn closed at $4.41, up 4 1/4 cents, New Crop Cash was $3.82 1/1, up 4 3/4 cents, On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on
