Brazil to raise ethanol blend in gasoline to 32%, Lula also flags biodiesel increase to 16%
Brazil plans to raise ethanol blending in gasoline to 32% from 30%, while increasing biodiesel blend to 16%. The move aims to boost energy self-sufficiency, shift more sugarcane toward ethanol, and expand overall biofuel production capacity.
Brazil is set to raise the mandatory ethanol blend in gasoline to 32 per cent from the current 30 per cent, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced on April 30, 2026, adding that the biodiesel blend in diesel is also expected to be increased to 16 per cent from 15 per cent, Reuters reported.
Lula said the formal announcement on the ethanol blend increase would be made in the coming days. The Ministry of Mines and Energy had previously indicated that a proposal to raise the mandatory ethanol blend to 32 per cent was scheduled for consideration at a meeting on May 7, according to the report. Authorities have previously said that any increase in the biodiesel blend to 16 per cent would require additional tests before implementation.
The Energy Ministry had noted that raising the ethanol blend to 32 per cent would result in Brazil achieving self-sufficiency in gasoline production, ending its status as a net importer of the fuel.
A higher ethanol blend is expected to shift more sugarcane away from sugar production and towards biofuel manufacturing. Consultancy Safras & Mercado estimated that the proportion of cane used to make ethanol rather than sugar would rise to 54 per cent, one percentage point above its earlier forecast and up from 51 per cent in the previous season, the report noted.
Mauricio Muruci, a sugar and ethanol analyst at Safras & Mercado, said the timing of the decision was well suited to the industry’s needs. “It’s an excellent moment for this decision, because we are at the start of the harvest and mills are in the early phase of defining their production mix,” he told Reuters.
With more cane directed towards ethanol and continued expansion of corn-based ethanol production, total biofuel output in Brazil could reach between 44 billion and 44.5 billion litres in the current season, according to estimates cited in the report.
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Source : ChiniMandi
