Cristal Union’s ethanol losses completely offset by 10x increase in sales for disinfectants in 2020

In France, Reuters reports Cristal Union was able to completely offset the loss in demand for ethanol last year resulting from the global COVID-19 pandemic by instead selling 500 million liters of ethanol to make disinfectants. Its sales to the disinfectant market rose 10-fold on the back of the demand for hand and other sanitizers. With sugar prices expected to remain high in part due to a smaller crop in Brazil, ethanol prices too are expected to remain high and help sugar makers weather the economic storm brought on by the pandemic.