LatinNews Daily - 22 May 2017

Brazil: On 15 May, Brazil’s energy & mining minister, Fernando Coelho Filho, announced that Brazil is toughening its requirements on ethanol imports. The announcement by Coelho will affect US producers of corn ethanol, for whom Brazil is their primary export market. On 27 April Brazil’s agriculture minister, Blairo Maggi, had recommended that tariffs be imposed on ethanol imports in order to protect Brazilian producers. At the time, Coelho reportedly said that he opposes new tariffs, fearing the retaliation that these could bring. However, Coelho appears to have acknowledged the need to protect the Brazilian production of sugar cane ethanol. Under the new measures, published in Brazil’s official gazette on 15 May, US ethanol producers will have to comply with the same rules as Brazilian producers regarding minimum stocks if they want to export to Brazil. It is not yet clear how this will affect US producers, although it is likely to hit small traders the most. US corn ethanol exports to Brazil having been soaring this year, reaching 720m litres in the first quarter. This is largely due to Brazilian producers moving away from sugar cane ethanol production to the more profitable production of sugar.

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