Includes details of report, market estimates, tables
NEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters) – Sugar production in Brazil’s center-south region fell 19% year-on-year in the second half of September to 2.31 million tonnes, industry group Unica said on Wednesday, adding that dozens of mills have already finished crushing for the season.
Sugarcane crushing late in September was down 11% to 35.8 million tonnes, Unica said, while ethanol production fell 8% in the period to 1.98 billion liters.
Brazil, the world’s largest sugar producer, is having a poor season due to drought and frosts that hurt the cane fields, and will produce around 6 million tonnes less than last season, according to analysts.
Despite the fall in production, the numbers were a bit better than market expectations. A survey by financial information provider S&P Global Platts had indicated sugar production at 2.22 million tonnes and the cane crush at 34 million tonnes.
Raw sugar prices in New York SBc1 fell further after Unica’s release.SOF/L
Unica said 36 mills had already finished crushing for the season, a lot earlier than normal, and that 52 others will close in the first half of October.
It said the mills which had already closed reported a 24% fall in crushing volumes compared to the previous crop.
The industry group said cane agricultural yields fell 21% early in September versus the previous year.
See below detailed figures from Unica’s crop report (cane and sugar in million tonnes, ethanol in billion liters, total recoverable sugar (TRS) in kg per tonne):
BRAZIL’S CENTER-SOUTH – 2ND HALF OF SEPT. (ANNUAL COMPARISON)
2020/21
2021/22
% CHANGE
CANE CRUSH
40.9
35.8
-11.4
SUGAR OUTPUT
2.86
2.31
-19.1
ETHANOL OUTPUT*
2.17
1.98
-8.7
TRS (kg/T)
161
155
-3.5
CANE TO SUGAR
46%
43%
BRAZIL’S CENTER-SOUTH CUMULATIVE DATA – (ANNUAL COMPARISON)
2020/21
2021/22
% CHANGE
CANE CRUSH
501
467
-6.8
SUGAR OUTPUT
32.05
29.18
-8.9
ETHANOL OUTPUT*
23.56
22.78
-3.3
TRS (kg/T)
142
142
0.0
CANE TO SUGAR
46.9%
45.9%
Source: Cane Industry Group Unica
* Includes corn-based ethanol
(Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Jan Harvey)
(([email protected]; +1 332 220 8062; Reuters Messaging: [email protected] – https://twitter.com/tx_marcelo))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
www.nasdaq.com