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Argentina's Energy Ministry authorized Friday a 0.8% month-on-month reduction in ethanol prices for oil refiners to blend into gasoline in October, month on month.

Refiners must pay Peso 13.296/liter (87 cents/liter) for supplies of sugarcane-derived ethanol this month to meet a 12% blend requirement in gasoline, the ministry said on its website.

That is up 35.8% from Peso 9.794/liter in the year-earlier month and down 0.8% from Peso 13.398/liter in September.

Corn-based ethanol prices were raised 69.6% to Peso 12.457/liter in October from Peso 7.347/liter in October 2015, and were cut 0.8% from Peso 12.555/liter in September, it added.

The biggest oil refiner is state-run YPF, trailed by Axion Energy, Shell, Oil Combustibles and Pampa Energia.

Argentina's ethanol production rose 6% to 380,745 mt in the first half of 2016 from 359,253 mt in the year-earlier period, while deliveries to the domestic market increased 5.4% to 411,363 mt from 390,404 mt over the same period, according to the Energy Ministry.