26th Nov 2012, by Agrimoney
The clock is ticking for the extended crushing period which has allowed mills in Brazil to, at the last gasp, overtake their cane processing volumes from 2011, prompting a late revival in ethanol and sugar output.
Unica, the industry group, said that mills in Brazil's Centre South, responsible for nearly 90% of sugar production in the top producing country, crushed 26.5m tonnes of cane in the first half of this month – 42% more than in the first half of November last year.
And it took to 482.0m tonnes the volume of cane crushed since April, up from 478.8m tonnes at the same time last year.
"This was the first fortnight in which the current year's crop grind exceeded last year's," Antonio de Padua Rodrigues, the Unica president, said.
The result "confirmed our expectations that the volume of cane available for the production of sugar and ethanol in this year is higher than that found in 2011-12", Mr Rodrigues said.
'End of the crop'
The catch-up in volumes from a rain-delayed start reflects a turn drier in the weather since and a determination by mills to make the most of a cane crop for which yield prospects were boosted by the precipitation.
As of November 15, only 41 mills, accounting for 7.3% of the region's total capacity, had shut for a seasonal down-time, during what is typically a wetter period, compared with 166 mills a year before.
However, the grinding pace should slow in coming weeks, "indicating the end of the cane crop", Unica said.
'Intense production'
The jump in processing volumes took sugar output so far in 2012-13 to 31.1m tonnes, up 1.6% year on year.
However, in the first half of November, a bigger proportion of cane than a year before was directed at making ethanol.
"The pace of production of anhydrous ethanol is still intense, totalling 19.61 litres of product per tonne of cane, and giving security to the supply prospects after the end of the grinding period," Unica said.
In New York, raw sugar futures for March delivery closed up 0.1% at 19.15 cents a pound.
The clock is ticking for the extended crushing period which has allowed mills in Brazil to, at the last gasp, overtake their cane processing volumes from 2011, prompting a late revival in ethanol and sugar output.
Unica, the industry group, said that mills in Brazil's Centre South, responsible for nearly 90% of sugar production in the top producing country, crushed 26.5m tonnes of cane in the first half of this month – 42% more than in the first half of November last year.
And it took to 482.0m tonnes the volume of cane crushed since April, up from 478.8m tonnes at the same time last year.
"This was the first fortnight in which the current year's crop grind exceeded last year's," Antonio de Padua Rodrigues, the Unica president, said.
The result "confirmed our expectations that the volume of cane available for the production of sugar and ethanol in this year is higher than that found in 2011-12", Mr Rodrigues said.
'End of the crop'
The catch-up in volumes from a rain-delayed start reflects a turn drier in the weather since and a determination by mills to make the most of a cane crop for which yield prospects were boosted by the precipitation.
As of November 15, only 41 mills, accounting for 7.3% of the region's total capacity, had shut for a seasonal down-time, during what is typically a wetter period, compared with 166 mills a year before.
However, the grinding pace should slow in coming weeks, "indicating the end of the cane crop", Unica said.
'Intense production'
The jump in processing volumes took sugar output so far in 2012-13 to 31.1m tonnes, up 1.6% year on year.
However, in the first half of November, a bigger proportion of cane than a year before was directed at making ethanol.
"The pace of production of anhydrous ethanol is still intense, totalling 19.61 litres of product per tonne of cane, and giving security to the supply prospects after the end of the grinding period," Unica said.
In New York, raw sugar futures for March delivery closed up 0.1% at 19.15 cents a pound.
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