Bioind MT (Industrias de Bioenergia de Mato Grosso) and IMEA (Instituto Mato-Grossense de Economia Agropecuária) release the balance of the 2023/24 harvest of sugar cane and corn in the State of Mato Grosso, one of the largest producers of ethanol and bioenergetic derivatives.
This harvest, total ethanol production (sugarcane and corn) in Mato Grosso broke a record, reaching 5.72 billion liters, an increase of 32% compared to the previous period (4.34 billion liters). This is the highest percentage of annual growth in ethanol production ever recorded in the State.
With this result, Mato Grosso reaches, for the first time, second place in national ethanol production, behind only São Paulo. When it comes to corn ethanol alone, the state is already the largest producer in Brazil. The growth in total ethanol production was the result of the increase in the production capacity of the plants (expansion and new plant), in addition to the better performance of the industries in the State. The industrial yield index for corn and sugarcane was a record this harvest.
Of the total ethanol produced in the 2023/24 harvest, 4.54 billion liters came from corn; and 1.18 billion liters from sugarcane crushing. Of this volume, 3.73 billion liters were of hydrated ethanol (biofuel that goes directly to the pumps), and 1.99 billion liters of anhydrous (a product that is added to gasoline).
“With this result, Mato Grosso consolidates itself as one of the great bioenergy hubs in Brazil, the industry of the sustainable future and energy transition, and one of the engines of national economic development in the coming decades”, says the president of Bioind MT, Silvio Rangel.
For the next harvest (2024/25), IMEA’s expectation is that total ethanol production will reach 6.30 billion liters, an increase of 10.03% compared to this harvest. Of this volume, 5.207 billion liters must come from corn and 1.088 billion from sugarcane.
“We are talking about an industry that today brings at least four important benefits to the country. Produces biofuels and corn oil; provides fertilizers and vegetable protein for animal feed and yeast; issues carbon credits; and generates electrical energy from waste. It is a sector where everything is reused and produces income, creates jobs and increases tax collection”, adds Rangel. Today, Mato Grosso has 18 ethanol industries and another four could start operating in the coming years.
The State is also competing to have the first carbon-negative ethanol industry in the world, through BECCS (bioenergy with carbon capture and storage) technology that is being developed in industries located in the State.
Corn: corn ethanol production grew 38%
In the 2023/24 harvest, Mato Grosso produced 43.8 million tons of corn, responsible for 38% of the national harvest. During this period, corn crushing was also a record, 10.11 million tons, a growth of 37.86%, the highest percentage of annual growth ever recorded in the State. The same for ethanol production, whose growth was 38.40% compared to the previous period. “The corn ethanol plants changed the state’s supply and demand relationship for the cereal, playing an important role in sustaining the consumption of this product and supporting the growth of corn production in Mato Grosso”, explains the regional development manager of Mato Grosso. IMEA, Vanessa Gasch.
The industrial yield index for ethanol production was 449.27 liters/ton of corn. Today, MT accounts for 72.03% of national corn ethanol production, which was 4.54 billion liters.
Another highlight in this harvest was DDG (Dried Distillery Grains), a co-product of corn ethanol used in animal feed. DDG production was 2.12 million tons, compared to 1.6 million tons in the previous period.
The main markets of DDG Mato Grosso were Minas Gerais (31.4%), followed by São Paulo (14.7%), Paraná (12.6%), Goiás (11.6%) and Mato Grosso do South (10%), in addition to its own internal consumption (35.5% of production).
Sugarcane: 10.6% increase in crushing
Sugarcane crushing increased by 10.6%, totaling 17.65 million tons, the same volume as the record harvest in the State recorded in the 2019/20 season. In this harvest, industrial yield in ethanol production in Mato Grosso reached 100 liters/ton, the highest since the beginning of the historical series.
Of the 2023/24 harvest, 12.08 million were destined for ethanol production and 5.57 million were destined for sugar production. Sugar production reached a record of 537.7 thousand tons, a volume 7% higher than the previous harvest.
Among the reasons for this movement is the lower supply of sugar on the international market, limited due to the sugarcane harvest failure in Asian countries, such as India and Thailand, which stimulated prices on the world market and demand for the product produced in the Brazil. This scenario caused sugar exports from Mato Grosso to record the highest volume since 2009, according to the Secretary of Foreign Trade (Secex).
