U.S.-Brazil ethanol swap seen in '12

Des Moines Register
11:05 PM, Jan. 6, 2012
Written by PHILIP BRASHER, Gannett Washington Bureau

Pollution rules here, sugar prices there create odd demand for each other's product

WASHINGTON — The ethanol subsidy may be history, but government policies can still produce crazy economics in the biofuel business.

Exhibit A: Brazil and the United States, the world’s two largest producers of the gasoline additive, are expected to swap some of their supplies this year.

Last year, Midwest ethanol producers shipped an estimated 250 million gallons of their product to Brazil, which ran short of the biofuel for its domestic market. Production in Brazil has fallen amid high sugar prices and a succession of poor harvests.

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