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(Corrects typographical errors in dateline to SAO PAULO and toMarch 18)

By Chris Prentice and Marcelo Teixeira

NEW YORK/SAO PAULO, March 18 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch ShellPlc has booked a large cargo of Brazilian ethanol tothe United States, the strongest sign yet that currency swings,hefty oversupply and weak prices in the world's biggestproducers are roiling trade flows, sources said.

Raizen Energia SA, a joint venture between Cosan SA and Shell, and with Louis Dreyfus Commodities'Biosev SA, sold a shipment of about 30,000 tonnesdestined for Florida, according to five trade sources in Braziland the United States.

The single shipment is just shy of the total ethanol importsfrom Brazil in December, which were the highest since May 2014,according to the most recent U.S. government data. A Biosevspokesman confirmed the company sold half the volume to a U.S.destination, with end-March delivery.

Traders say the plunge in the real has made Brazilianethanol more attractive even as U.S. refineries have ampledomestic supplies, offering Shell a short-term opportunity.

The real this week hit 3.2831 against the dollar, itsweakest in 12 years and eroding from 2.86 a month earlier, asBrazil's economy deteriorates.

The deal represents an "escape valve" for ballooningsupplies in Brazil, said Tarsilo Rodrigues, a director at SaoPaulo-based ethanol brokerage Bioagencia, even after thegovernment hiked its mandated mix of ethanol in fuel blends.

A spokesman for Shell declined to comment. Its U.S. tradingarm, Shell Oil Co, did the transaction.

Raizen did not respond to requests for comment.

In the United States, the world's top exporter last year, aprolonged pick-up in imports will raise concerns among producerswho are struggling with compressed margins and seeking homesabroad for an estimated 3 million tonnes of excess biofuel amiduncertainty over U.S. renewable fuels policy.

"Everyone's grabbing at straws for demand for corn(products)," said Steve Nicholson, an analyst with RabobankAgriFinance in St. Louis, Mo.

Benchmark U.S. cash ethanol prices in the Midwest are down 15 percent year-to-date to about $1.40 agallon, under pressure from weak gasoline prices, and trade at a30-cent premium in Florida, according to traders.

Ethanol in Brazil, basis U.S. dollars, hasplunged 17 percent to 1.60 a gallon, its weakest in more than ayear, according to a weekly price index from Cepea Esalq, aUniversity of Sao Paulo research institute. In reais, however,that was at just a three-month low. (Editing by Grant McCool)