Brazil Corn Ethanol Clears IMO Regulatory Step for Maritime Use

May 04, 2026

Print This Article Share it With Friends

by Ana Mano (Bloomberg) Brazil said its corn ethanol passed a significant regulatory step from the International Maritime Organization, giving the country an edge against the US and other competitors in the race to provide biofuels for ocean vessel transportation. The South American country’s so-called second-crop corn ethanol is the first biofuel compatible with marine transport to have its carbon footprint defined and approved by the IMO, according to Flavio Mathuiy, a navy captain who represents Brazil at the world’s shipping regulator. The London-based IMO didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment during a holiday in the UK. The move clears a key hurdle for the Brazilian biofuel ahead of enforcement of a global IMO framework to cut greenhouse gas emissions in maritime transportation, providing a potential boost to the country’s corn farmers and ethanol traders. READ MORE

Related articles

UNICA: Corn accounts for 27% of Brazilian ethanol production during 2025-’26 harvest season (Ethanol Producer Magazine)
Atvos anuncia primeira unidade de etanol de milho e avança na transição energética (Atvos)
3tentos initiate corn ethanol production operation in the Araguaia Valley. (Forbes (Google translation))
Sour taste of South American trade (Farm and Dairy)
IMO definition of Brazil corn ethanol carbon footprint a landmark step, producers say (Reuters)
IMO definition of Brazil corn ethanol carbon footprint a landmark step, producers say (Economic Times)

Excerpt from Ethanol Producer Magazine: UNICA, the Brazilian sugarcane industry association, has released final data for the 2025-’26 sugarcane harvest season, which began April 1, 2025, and concluded March 31, 2026. Sugarcane processing and sugarcane ethanol production were down, but corn ethanol production continued to grow.

...

Total ethanol production reached 33.72 billion liters (8.91 billion gallons), down 3.56% when compared to record-setting production reported for the 2024-’25 harvest season. Production included 20.83 billion liters of hydrous ethanol, down 7.82%, and 12.89 billion liters of anhydrous ethanol, up 4.22%.

Corn ethanol announced for 9.19 billion liters of production, up 12.26% and accounting for 27.28% of total ethanol Brazilian ethanol production during the 2025-’26 harvest season. READ MORE

Excerpt from Atvos: Movimento fortalece a operação da companhia e reforça a segurança energética com maior disponibilidade de biocombustíveis

A Atvos, uma das maiores produtoras de biocombustíveis do Brasil, anuncia primeira unidade voltada à produção de etanol de milho, fortalecendo sua atuação na segurança energética do país e expandindo sua contribuição à oferta de soluções de energia renovável em escala global.

O projeto contempla a ampliação da Unidade Santa Luzia, em Mato Grosso do Sul, com integração entre as operações de cana e milho, permitindo à empresa alcançar produção contínua ao longo de todo o ano, com melhor aproveitamento de ativos e ganho de competitividade. Com capacidade para processar 642 mil toneladas de milho por ano, a unidade produzirá anualmente 273 mil metros cúbicos de etanol, além de 183 mil toneladas de DDG (coproduto de alto valor proteico para nutrição animal) e 13 mil toneladas de óleo de milho.

A iniciativa reforça a estratégia de diversificação da Atvos, com o milho se consolidando como um novo vetor de crescimento, complementar à cana-de-açúcar e integrado a outras rotas como o biometano, ampliando a eficiência operacional.

O projeto também está inserido em um modelo sustentável de multiuso da terra, que combina a produção de energia e alimentos em um mesmo sistema produtivo, aliado a uma lógica de economia circular, em que subprodutos são reaproveitados, como o uso do bagaço da cana-de-açúcar, para geração de energia que abastece a produção de etanol de milho.

A expectativa é de que o empreendimento gere cerca de 2.000 empregos durante a fase de obras, contribuindo para a dinamização da economia local e o desenvolvimento regional.

O investimento reforça ainda a relevância do Mato Grosso do Sul como polo estratégico para a transição energética, em um ambiente de incentivo do governo estadual à atração de novos projetos voltados ao desenvolvimento do setor de bioenergia.

“Este investimento está alinhado à nossa visão de longo prazo e à estratégia de crescimento sustentável da Atvos. O etanol de milho amplia nossa capacidade produtiva e fortalece nossa atuação como plataforma integrada de biocombustíveis, contribuindo para a segurança energética do Brasil e para uma oferta mais robusta de energia renovável para o mundo”, afirma Bruno Serapião, CEO da Atvos. “Com uma base operacional e financeira sólida, também ganhamos previsibilidade para avançar nessa agenda mesmo em cenários globais mais desafiadores”, complementa.

O etanol é uma das principais rotas tecnológicas para a mobilidade sustentável, com produção em larga escala, baixo custo e menor pegada de carbono, sendo uma das alternativas mais promissoras para a descarbonização dos setores de transporte marítimo e aviação.

Com o investimento em etanol de milho, a Atvos reforça seu protagonismo na transição energética brasileira, combinando diversificação, escala e eficiência operacional para contribuir com uma matriz mais sustentável no Brasil e no mundo. READ MORE

Excerpt from Forbes: 3tentos reported this Wednesday (May 20, 2026) that it has officially started operating its first corn ethanol plant in Porto Alegre do Norte, in the Araguaia Va…

...

The plant is also suitable for processing sorghum in combination with corn. READ MORE

Excerpt from Farm and Dairy: One of my (Jake Zajkowski's) first sights in farm country was soybeans so heavily irrigated and high-yielding that they were falling over.

In Mato Grosso’s production cycle, the first crop of soybeans or cotton is followed by safrinha corn, which complements the long southern hemisphere growing season and is planted in the rainy season after soybean harvest.

Competition between the U.S. and Brazil, while it has always ruffled feathers in the Midwest, has made additional milestones and power plays that put us further out of touch. During the opening phase of the 2018 U.S.-China trade war, Brazil emerged as the world’s largest soybean exporter and producer. Now, in 2026, it took that role in beef production, as the U.S. cattle herd contracts.

Competition and rivalry are good signals of global trade, but the sourness of the caipirinha still has some mouthfeel back home.

The Purdue/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer in February indicated that 80% of corn and soybean producers expressed concern or very concerned perspectives on the competitiveness of U.S. soybean exports versus Brazil’s. Another country’s supply affects global prices, which in turn determines where population-heavy countries buy commodities from.

Brazil’s advantage is increasing steadily. The opportunity for expanded production, double-cropping cycles, a feedlot transition and strong soybean diplomacy is holding greater power on the trade stage. And despite a slower harvest, consistent logistics challenges and late planting of their safrinha corn, China has still indicated its geopolitical preferences of who it will purchase beans from.

The attraction must be from plentiful land in Soylandia, which is converting record amounts of pastureland to crops. “I see agriculture increasing, and actually decreasing for many small livestock farmers leaving the sector,” said Ricardo Woldmar, an environmental economist I spoke with during my trip. READ MORE

Excerpt from Reuters: The IMO's defined ⁠value for Brazilian corn ethanol is a significant step as the agency builds regulations to govern lower-carbon fuels, said Gustavo Mariano, vice president of trading at Inpasa.

"It was a historic and symbolic milestone," Mariano said in an interview, adding that it consolidates the position of Brazilian and South American corn ethanol as a viable fuel for decarbonization.

For decades, Brazil's ethanol industry has been dominated by the country's sugarcane producers. However, according to industry association UNEM, corn ethanol output surged to almost 10 billion liters in the ‌2025/26 ⁠season, up from 2.65 billion liters at the start of the decade.

...

Once biofuels receive approval for use in shipping, producers could benefit from possible premiums on greener fuels, said Rafael Abud, chief executive of corn ethanol maker FS Fueling Sustainability.

"We have invested heavily in every aspect we ⁠can to decarbonize our product," Abud said, citing efforts to lower emissions from biomass use, industrial efficiency and a bioenergy with carbon capture and storage project that could eventually make FS ethanol ⁠carbon negative.

The scale of the global shipping industry means Brazil's second-crop corn ethanol will not be in competition with other biofuels such as sugarcane ethanol and biodiesel, but will complement ⁠them instead, the executives said.

"If the global bunker market were converted into ethanol equivalent, it would be almost 400 billion liters," Mariano said. "These are volumes so large that we need all sustainable biofuels." READ MORE