The widely touted relaxation of the social security tax (PIS/Confins) for ethanol producers to improve the competitiveness of the sector was announced by the Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega on 23 April. Speaking to the reporters, the Minister said that “The main objective [of the tax break] is to make conditions favourable for more investment in the industry. Producers won’t necessarily pass on savings to the price, but they will have bigger margins that allow them to boost output”. Removal of the tax would release about 12 centavos ($0.06) to the price of every litre of the biofuel sold. In… Login to continue

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