Brazil sugar cane crushing hits 440,000 tonnes

SAO PAULO: Brazil’s center-south sugarcane crushing totaled 440,000 tonnes in the first half of January, industry group Unica said on Thursday, up from the same period last year when processing had already been halted by this time.

Sugar output reached 19,000 tonnes, while total ethanol output rose 43% year-on-year to 208.25 million liters, as the current cycle nears its end and Brazil enters a period between crops.

Unica’s ethanol data also includes fuel made from corn. Only 13 plants had been operational by mid-January, Unica said in a report, noting that three of them were still processing sugarcane while the rest were used to make corn-based ethanol.