SAO PAULO, Nov 10 (Reuters) – Brazilian center-south (CS) mills produced 858,000 tonnes of sugar in the second half of October, 50% less than a year ago, but the volume was still higher than the market expected.
A survey by financial information provider S&P Global Platts said analysts were expecting sugar production of 711,200 tonnes. Sugarcane crushing in the period reached 17 million tonnes, industry group Unica said on Wednesday, above market expectations of 13.9 million tonnes.
ICE raw sugar futures extended losses after the report and were down nearly 1% in mid-morning trading.SBc1
Unica said that Brazil’s CS ethanol production was 1.05 billion liters in the second half of October, 30% less than a year ago, but above expectations of 838 million liters.
Mills continue to increase the share of cane they allocate to ethanol production from the previous season, consequently cutting sugar production. They earmarked 63% of cane to ethanol versus 56% last year.
“The plants are prioritizing anhydrous ethanol production due to the commitment with the blending mandate,” said Unica’s technical director, Antonio de Padua Rodrigues.
Brazil blends 27% of ethanol to gasoline. Due to lower production and high ethanol costs this year, fuel distributors have asked for a reduction on the blending mandate, which so far has not happened.
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 OCT. (ANNUAL COMPARISON)
2020/21
2021/22
% CHANGE
CANE CRUSH
26.93
17.02
-36.8
SUGAR OUTPUT
1.73
0.85
-50.5
ETHANOL OUTPUT*
1.51
1.05
-30.3
TRS (kg/T)
155
142
-8.1
CANE TO SUGAR
43%
37%
BRAZIL’S CENTER-SOUTH CUMULATIVE DATA – 2020/21 VS 2021/22
2020/21
2021/22
% CHANGE
CANE CRUSH
565
504
-10.8
SUGAR OUTPUT
36.4
31.2
-14.3
ETHANOL OUTPUT*
27.1
25.1
-7.6
TRS (kg/T)
144
143
-1.1
CANE TO SUGAR
46%
45%
Source: Cane Industry Group Unica
* Includes corn-based ethanol
(Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
((marcelo.teixeira@tr.com; +1 332 220 8062; Reuters Messaging: marcelo.teixeira.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net – 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.
The above news was originally posted on www.nasdaq.com. By Marcelo Teixeira.
