Brazil, the world\u2019s largest producer of ethanol from sugarcane, may start producing the biofuel from corn after a record crop prompted domestic prices to slump below costs, the country\u2019s agriculture policy secretary said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re studying to provide financial support to corn ethanol and to design an agriculture policy for it,\u201d Neri Geller said in a telephone interview from Brasilia. \u201cCorn ethanol is competitive and is probably the best outlet for the corn surplus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corn prices have fallen as Brazil\u2019s output has more than doubled in 11 years. The nation\u2019s yield reached 81 million metric tons in 2012-13 as farmers started planting two crops per season and used new technologies and more fertilizer, data from the country\u2019s Ministry of Agriculture show.<\/p>\n
Output is expected to drop to as much as 79.8 million tons in 2013-14 after prices fell, the ministry said. Corn in the main state of Mato Grosso dropped 37 percent this year to 11.26 reais a 60-kilo bag ($2.04 a bushel), below the production cost of 13.02 reais, data from the government show.<\/p>\n
Geller declined to comment on how much ethanol Brazil might produce from grains such as corn and sorghum.<\/p>\n
Production of ethanol from corn faces criticism within the government amid concerns over food prices and livestock feed costs, Geller said. Brazil would consider financing ethanol distillers in remote corn-producing areas that are not connected to ports or anywhere near consumer markets.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn some areas it costs more to transport the corn than to produce it,\u201d he said. \u201cProcessing corn and selling ethanol and distillers\u2019 dried grains locally makes sense and would reduce ethanol imports from the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brazil is the world\u2019s second-largest ethanol producer after the U.S., where the biofuel is made mostly from corn.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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