New York: The second half of March has witnessed lower sugar output as well as ethanol output in Brazil. The Centre-South region of the country produced 174,000 tonnes of sugar during the period which is 23% lower than the same period last year. The official crop year in Brazil starts in April but some mills kick off crushing early considering the favourable climate. This indicates a slow start in the new season, reports industry group Unica.
The world’s largest sugar and ethanol producer crushed 4.99 million tonnes of cane in the second half of March which is 33% lower than the last year during the same period. The ethanol output was also less by 18% to 372 million litres during the period.
This year, the mills are waiting for the plant to grow as there was insufficient rain in the last few months that impacted the plant’s growth.
As per Unica’s report, sugar production in 2020/21 reached a record 38.46 million tonnes which was 43% more compared to the previous season as the mills switched from ethanol to sugar production due to pandemic.
