Sao Paulo: Sugar output in Brazil’s Centre-South region surged by 35% year-on-year in the second half of December as mills extended the crushing season amidst dry weather conditions, according to industry group Unica on Thursday. The production in the main Brazilian sugar belt reached 236,000 metric tons in late December, compared to 174,000 tonnes during the same period the previous year.
Unica highlighted that the total amount of sugarcane processed in December was the highest for the month since 2015, exceeding 20 million tonnes. Unusual dry weather conditions prompted mills to prolong their operations, leading to the near-complete utilization of available cane in the fields.
The group noted that the earlier expectation of having a leftover cane in the fields for the next season has dissipated due to the exceptional pace of the harvest in the last third of the crop. It stated, “We had that expectation a couple of months ago that there would be cane left in the fields to be crushed in the next season, but that idea seems to have vanished after the exceptional pace of the harvest in the last third of the crop,” according to a statement from Unica.
Despite the impressive processing pace, which contributed to a decline in sugar prices late last year, some analysts express concerns that the dry weather may adversely impact the development of the new crop. Unica mentioned that 81 out of the 100 mills still operational in late December will cease operations early in January.
