Two weeks after the government of the United States (USA) confirmed a new increase in the quota of sugar that Brazil can sell to the North American market under special tax conditions, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa) defined the additional volume of sugar that 37 mills producing in the North and Northeast will be able to export to the US until September 30 this year.
Published in Official Diary of the Union As of today (15), Ordinance No. 472 sets out the quotas allocated to each production unit. Of the contemplated mills based on the results of the previous harvest, 15 are located in Alagoas and 11 in Pernambuco. The others work in Paraíba (2); Rio Grande do Norte (2); Sergipe (2) and in the states of Amazonas; Bahia; Maranhao; Pará and Piauí (one establishment in each).
The producers benefiting from the measure are all from the North and Northeast regions because a 1996 law, the[http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/l9362.htm” target=”_blank”>Lei nº 9.362, estabelece que, para estimular o desenvolvimento regional, a exportação de produtos derivados de cana-de-açúcar para mercados considerados preferenciais, como o dos Estados Unidos, serão atribuídos a usinas das duas regiões, “tendo em conta seu estágio econômico”.
Esta é a segunda alocação, ou rateio, que o ministério faz, este ano, do volume extra do produto que o Brasil é autorizado a vender para o mercado norte-americano. Em maio, os Estados Unidos já tinham manifestado interesse em comprar, com tratamento diferenciado, a 35,16 mil toneladas além das cerca de 144,41 mil toneladas autorizadas ainda em 2021. No fim de julho, as autoridades norte-americanas adicionaram mais 14,43 mil toneladas à cota prioritária inicial.
“Isto é corriqueiro. Costumeiramente, alguns dos países [produtores] who receive quotas [do governo dos EUA] end up not being able to fulfill them. Or [as autoridades norte-americanas] see that they need a little more of the product. We [Brasil] we are always consulted if we are able to meet [à demanda]”, he explained to Brazil Agency the general coordinator of Cane and Sugar at Mapa, Cid Caldas, emphasizing that, added to the main and additional quotas, national mills will be able to export, under special conditions, just over 195 thousand tons of sugar to the United States.
“We have been trying to raise the quota [principal] showing that there are countries to which quotas are assigned, but that they do not even have production”, added Caldas, noting that, in 2020, the Brazilian government even suggested the possibility of zeroing the import tax charged on North American ethanol if the States States to dispense the same treatment to Brazilian sugar.
“Since sugarcane and ethanol are closely linked in Brazil, once the US government is sending us ethanol, it should also open up its sugar market further,” said Caldas.
Almost two years ago, the Brazilian government announced, as a result of the negotiations between Brazil and the USA, the fact that national producers were authorized to export, that year, an additional 80 thousand tons of sugar. THE expansion of the initial quota was announced less than two weeks after the Brazilian government raised the US ethanol import quota.
