Sugar and alcohol industry in Brazil - growth, growth, growth... ?

Brazil has reported impressive growth rates in the sugar and alcohol industry over the past fifteen years. In the period from 1990 to 2003, the sugarcane production grew at an annual rate of 3.1 %, with a total increase of nearly 50% in production volumes. Sugar exports went up from an annual volume of 1.5 mn t in 1990 to more than 15.0 mn L, the amount expected for this season. Such performance, which diverts from the agricultural market's standard behavior, raises questions about its causes and, most importantly, about how long this expansion is going to last. The purpose of this paper is to outline the facts that combined to make up a favorable scenario for private investments in production, and to demonstrate that the same expansion factors are still present in Brazil's economy, which indicates that this growth process still has strength to move on. The question of when it will come to an end is yet to be answered by the experts.