Sílvio Ávila
18
Finally, inthe
black
A
fter operating in the red for
years, the sugar and energy
sector reaped better financial
results and a moment of pos-
itive margins in the 2016/17
growing season, according to analyses per-
formed by the sector. Prices fetched dur-
ing the productive period improved and
brought relief to the farmers, after almost a
decade-long period of difficulties and even
amid the turbulences of the Country’s po-
litical and economic scenario.
In the leading producer state, São Pau-
lo, the industry fetched R$ 149.35 per
tons of sugarcane, up 18 percent from
the 2015/16 season, according to data re-
leased by Antônio de Pádua Rodrigues,
technical director of the Brazilian Sugar-
cane Industry Association (Unica); Lucia-
no Rodrigues, manager of economy and
sectoral analysis; and Mariana Regina
Zechin, economic analyst at the entity.
Despite the lower agricultural produc-
tivity levels during the period, the farm-
ers made profits, considering that the
amount ascertained represents an aver-
age price of the raw material of above R$
90 per ton, according to numbers released
by Agro Analysis specialists, in May 2017.
For achieving the results, they mentioned
the effects upon sugar from the global
deficit and the depreciation of the Brazil-
ian currency, and influence upon ethanol
stemming from changes in state tax rates
and from the gasoline pricing policy.
“Without any doubt, it was the best
year in almost a decade, with sugar pric-
es hitting record highs in the domestic
and international market, besides abun-
dant sales of ethanol and a balance in
the remuneration of the fuels”, comment-
ed, in April 2017, Alexandro Alves dos San-
tos, technical advisor to the department
of sugarcane and bioenergy at the Feder-
ation of Agriculture and Livestock in Goiás
(Faeg), the State that ranks second in pro-
duction. He also emphasized the resump-
tion of dialogue between the sector and
the federal government.
Unica analysts, in turn, noted that, de-
spite this rather positive result, “the finan-
cial standing of a significant portion of the
sugar and energy segment still requires
caution”. They explained that this occurs
because of “erratic policies over the past
years”, which represented a significant part
of their finance-related costs. Therefore,
they concluded that, although if some im-
provements take place, the scenario is not
yet inviting huge investments.
n
The financial results of the 2016/17
growingseasonwereboostedbythesugarandenergysector,
afteraperiodofseriousdifficultiesandamidanationalcrisis
