SAO PAULO: Sugarcane crushing and sugar production in Brazil’s centre-south jumped in the second half of July to levels higher than the already optimistic ones estimated by market analysts as dry weather favours field work in the country’s main sugar belt.
Data provided by industry group UNICA showed on Thursday that 52.96 million metric tons of sugarcane were crushed in the period, up 7.8% from a year ago and a record for its data series tracking fortnightly figures on the sector.
That came in above the 51.47 million tons forecast in a survey by financial data provider S&P Global Commodity Insights. Analysts have noted that only marginal sugarcane areas in Brazil’s centre-south region had problems with rains late in July, and the outlook for the first half of August is also very positive.
The bumper crushing led to an 11.3% increase in sugar production in late July to 3.68 million tons, UNICA said, while ethanol production rose 1.4% in the period to 2.46 billion litres.
Both also beat projections from the S&P survey, which stood at 3.58 million tons for sugar and 2.42 billion litres for ethanol. Mills have been looking to allocate more cane to sugar production this season to takke advantage of higher prices.
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