The Cepea/Esalq Indicators for hydrated and anhydrous ethanol, both on the spot market in the state of São Paulo, fell sharply in February. The data are from the Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics (Cepea), at Esalq-USP.

Considering the full weeks of the last month, the average price of hydrated was R$ 2.8743 per liter, a decrease of 12.7% compared to the full weeks of January.

In the same comparison, anhydrous ethanol (only the spot market) had an average of R$ 3.2679 per liter in February, down 14.2% compared to January.

According to Cepea researchers, throughout February, the closing of deals took place in a punctual way, which resulted in a drop in the prices of ethanol in São Paulo. "Demand was heating up little by little during the month, but the market followed slow", he says, in a note.

On the selling side, Cepea points out that some units were more flexible in sales values, due to inventories formed in the 2021/22 harvest.