A 5.3. What are the sugar-cane supply and sugar and ethanol production forecasts for the year 2012?
With the growing sales of Flex-Fuel vehicles and the competitiveness of ethanol with gasoline (with prices in most of the market under 60 percent of the gasoline price), the sugar and ethanol industry is expected to process approximately 700 million tons of sugar-cane, and to produce 36 billion liters of ethanol and 39 million tons of sugar in 2012/13. The expansion in supply will take place through the implementation of new production units, expansion of existing units and increased productivity in the agribusiness. That expansion is taking place already, as several dozen units are being built. Today, 50 percent of the sugar-cane produce is used in ethanol production; since that production tends to grow faster, it is estimated that for 2012 more than 60 percent of the sugar-cane supplies will be processed into ethanol. The expansion is happening mainly in pasture areas, including partially degraded areas to the West of the State of So Paulo, the region known as Triangulo Mineiro, Stat
