Sweetener-Ethanol Complex in Brazil, the United States, and Mexico: Do Corn and Sugar Prices Matter? (original) (raw)

Ethanol from Sugar: The Case of Hidden Sugar Subsidies in Brazil

Florida. Its mission is to provide information, education, and research directed to immediate and long-term enhancement and sustainability of international trade and natural resource use. Its scope includes not only trade and related policy issues, but also agricultural, rural, resource, environmental, food, state, national and international policies, regulations, and issues that influence trade and development.

The international competitiveness of the U.S. corn-ethanol industry: A comparison with sugar-ethanol processing in Brazil

Agribusiness, 2006

An indicator of competitive position, the cost difference between ethanol import from Brazil with sugar processing and domestic production with corn in the United States under ideal conditions without tariffs in the ethanol market, is developed conceptually+ An ex ante version of the indicator that is based on historical prices and today's technology is calculated for the last 30 years and subjected to time series analysis+ Results suggest that there are no trends, but there are cyclical periods of advantage for both industries+ Further, long-term averages suggest that profits would be similar in both countries under ideal trade conditions+ However, the corn wet-milling industry may have slightly higher profits than other processes and locations+ Finally, the U+S+ dry-milling industry could improve its competitive position using modified corn varieties with high starch content, and using corn residues for biomass generation of electrical and heat energy+ @EconLit Classifications: F140, L650, Q420#+

Near Term Prospects for the U.S. Sugar Industry

Expanding domestic production, increasing imports and international commitments under the WTO and NAFTA have severely weakened the U.S. sugar Program and are wreaking havoc on the industry. The consequences have been: prices in the domestic market plummeting to 22-year lows; closure of several mills; bankruptcy of the nation's largest seller of refined sugar; forfeitures of sugar loans commitments; government purchases of sugar; and extremely high stocks to usage ratio. Moreover, the longer-term prospects for the industry are not encouraging. New rounds of agricultural trade negotiations under the umbrella of the WTO set to restart later in 2001, the likely formation of an FTAA in 2005, the creation of a single sugar market between Mexico and U.S. by the year 2008, the formation of a free trade area with APEC by 2010, and impending trade with Cuba create a wave of uncertainty over the future of the U.S. sugar industry.

Analysis of the US-Mexico Sugar Trade-10 Years of NAFTA Regime and 10 Years from Now

2004 Annual meeting, …, 2004

The U.S.-Mexico sugar trade was examined, paying a close attention to the provisions of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the circumstances surrounding the industries of the two countries. Quantitative analyses provided the outlook of the future sugar market and shed light on the political implications.

The International Competitiveness of the U.S. Corn-Ethanol Industry

An indicator of competitive position, the cost difference between ethanol import from Brazil with sugar processing and domestic production with corn in the United States under ideal conditions without tariffs in the ethanol market, is developed conceptually+ An ex ante version of the indicator that is based on historical prices and today's technology is calculated for the last 30 years and subjected to time series analysis+ Results suggest that there are no trends, but there are cyclical periods of advantage for both industries+ Further, long-term averages suggest that profits would be similar in both countries under ideal trade conditions+ However, the corn wet-milling industry may have slightly higher profits than other processes and locations+ Finally, the U+S+ dry-milling industry could improve its competitive position using modified corn varieties with high starch content, and using corn residues for biomass generation of electrical and heat energy+ @EconLit Classifications: F140, L650, Q420#+

Competitiveness of Brazilian sugarcane ethanol compared to US corn ethanol

Energy Policy, 2010

Corn ethanol produced in the US and sugarcane ethanol produced in Brazil are the world's leading sources of biofuel. Current US biofuel policies create both incentives and constraints for the import of ethanol from Brazil, and together with the competitiveness and greenhouse gas intensity of sugarcane ethanol compared to corn ethanol will determine the extent of these imports. This study analyzes the supply-side determinants of this competitiveness and compares the greenhouse gas intensity of corn ethanol and sugarcane ethanol delivered to US ports. We find that while the cost of sugarcane ethanol production in Brazil is lower than that of corn ethanol in the US, the inclusion of transportation costs for the former and co-product credits for the latter changes their relative competitiveness. We also find that the relative cost of ethanol in the US and Brazil is highly sensitive to the prevailing exchange rate and prices of feedstocks. At an exchange rate of US$1 = R$2.15 the cost of corn ethanol is 15% lower than the delivered cost of sugarcane ethanol at a US port. Sugarcane ethanol has lower GHG emissions than corn ethanol but a price of over $113 per ton of CO 2 is needed to affect competitiveness.

U.S.-MEXICO Sugar Dispute: Impact of Nafta on the Sugar Market

2001 Annual meeting, August 5-8, Chicago, IL, 2001

A side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) enables Mexico to ship more duty-free sugar to the United States than under the pre-1994 restrictive country-specific, tariff-rate quota (TRQ) policy. However, U.S. and Mexican negotiators disagree over the issue of exactly how much sugar Mexico can actually export to the U.S. under the NAFTA side agreement. Their disagreement focuses on which version of the NAFTA side agreement governs this issue. The U.S. argues that a 1993 side letter limits Mexican sugar exports to the U.S. to 250,000 MT of Mexico's net surplus production. In contrast, Mexico insists that its version of the side letter does not take into account the consumption of HFCS as part of the net surplus formula, and does not limit exports to 250,000 MT. This study focuses on the U.S. interpretation of side letter. A multi-region, open economy Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model was used to simulate impacts of increased Mexican sugar exports to the U.S. Results indicate that as a