Brazil's ethanol prices slip while road spill prompts emergency response

In May, Brazil's hydrated ethanol price fell 5.6% to an average of R$4.488 per litre, making it the sharpest decline among monitored fuels. The drop was driven by a strong 2026/27 sugarcane harvest in the Centre‑South, which increased supply and narrowed the price gap with gasoline. The five states with the biggest falls were the Federal District (-10.0%), São Paulo (-7.2%), Minas Gerais (-6.0%), Paraná (-5.1%) and Mato Grosso (-4.9%).

From January to May, the Mato Grosso State Environment Secretariat (Sema‑MT) recorded 52 road incidents involving hazardous cargo, 12 of which resulted in chemical spills. A recent case on BR‑163 near Rondonópolis involved a tanker truck carrying about 59,000 litres of ethanol that overturned, leaking a small amount of diesel and prompting an immediate emergency response. Sema‑MT and partners formed a crisis committee to contain the spill, enforce penalties, and require the carrier to submit a remediation report within 60 days.