Petrobras Besting Sugar Mills in Ethanol Boom: Corporate Brazil
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Petroleo Brasileiro SA, the state-run oil producer, stands to profit the most from Brazilian measures to boost ethanol output as rising biofuel supplies reduce the need to sell imported gasoline at a loss.
Surging demand for ethanol made from sugar cane will help Rio de Janeiro-based Petrobras cut gasoline imports by about 20 percent this year to an average 52,415 barrels a day, said Salim Morsy, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in Sao Paulo. For millers from Sao Martinho SA to Biosev SA, tax breaks and an increase in the mandatory use of ethanol mixed with gasoline won’t be enough to offset a 48 percent slump in sugar prices since early 2011, industry association Unica said.