Brazil corn output forecast at 125 mln metric tons, association president says

By Oliver Griffin

BRASILIA, May 14 (Reuters) - Brazil's corn output is forecast to hit around 125 million metric tons in the 2024/25 crop, Paulo Bertolini, president of Abramilho, the Brazilian Association of Corn and Sorghum Producers, said on Wednesday, adding that the ethanol industry's consumption of corn could soon more than double.

"Corn ethanol is already consuming around 20 million tons of corn this year and has a tendency and a possibility of consuming more than double that in a short period of time," Bertolini told Reuters on the sidelines of Abramilho's third congress in Brasilia.

Corn ethanol is growing rapidly in Brazil, with analysts at Citibank expecting production of the fuel to hit 16 billion liters by 2032, up from 9.5 billion liters expected for the 2024/25 season.

The South American country plans to increase the legal requirement for the proportion of ethanol in gasoline from 27% to 30%. Demand for the renewable fuel is allowing for further exploration, Bertolini said, adding that ethanol made from sorghum is also being looked at.

"Some of these (ethanol) plants are also prepared to receive sorghum," Bertolini said.

Operations to produce ethanol from sorghum are slated to begin in Brazil's Mato Grosso do Sul state later this year, he added.

"Sorghum is quite interesting in Brazil, it is still under explored, although we are the third largest producer of sorghum in the world but (production) is only 5 million tons," Bertolini said.

Sorghum has lots of potential for growth, he added, particularly among farmers who miss the ideal window for planting corn in the yellow grain's second crop.