Read the paragraph and answer question.

Brazil may import ethanol from the United States in April, Brazil’s oil regulator says. The move comes as a growing number of Brazilian cane farmers choose to produce sugar, which has surged in price over the last year, rather than ethanol, leading to a spike in fuel costs.

(Taken from The New York Times March 29, 2011)

GLOSSARY
spike – aumento
move – mudança
cane – cana
to surge – aumentar rapidamente e repentinamente

“rather than”, underlined in the paragraph, has the same meaning as