The sale of ethanol from Uttar Pradesh has been lowered as no vehicles are on roads due to lockdown amid Covid-19. Demand from oil companies has also declined. To come over the existing crisis the Uttar Pradesh Sugar Millers Association (UPSMA) has requested the central government to increase the ethanol blending from existing 10 per cent to 15 per cent. UP is the country’s top ethanol producer.
Deepak Guptara, the secretary-general of UPSMA has written a letter to the secretary, Food & Public Distribution stating that despite facing severe challenges, the UP sugar industry is doing best for taking care of the interest of the farmers. The industry is going through a major crisis due to the sluggish sugar market on the backdrop of Covid-19.
“We request the government to increase the blending percentage from existing 10 per cent to 15 per cent in UP,” he said.
The Brazilian ethanol industry has also suffered because of covid-19 outbreak. Following the sharp decline in the prices of crude oil, the ethanol producers in Brazil are mulling to reduce ethanol production and diverting more cane for sugar production.
The Brazilian mills are flexible to produce both sugar as well as ethanol depending on the prices. In the last two seasons, the falling prices of sugar in the international market has helped Brazil to emphasise more on ethanol production. The excess production of sugar kept the prices low, and the mills turned back to their favourite ethanol production.
