CS Brazil H2 August sugar output increases 0.69% on year: UNICA

Sugar production in Brazil's Center-South for the second half of August totaled 2.954 million mt, an increase of 0.69% from the prior year, data from trade association UNICA showed Sept. 10.

The figure was only 6,000 mt above the consensus expectations of 2.948 million mt from 10 analysts S&P Global Platts surveyed Sept. 9.

Mills in CS Brazil crushed 43.13 million mt of sugarcane in H2 August, up 2.08% year on year, UNICA said.

Sugar's share of the sugarcane crush for H2 August was 46.43% compared with 46.73% a year earlier.

The cumulative sugar crush in CS Brazil since April 1 was up to 392.59 million mt through H2 August. April 1 was the beginning of the 2021-22 crop year. This figure was down 5.81% compared with the same period in the 2020-21 crop year.

Sugar production since April 1 reached 24.28 million mt, or a decrease of 6.58% from the same period in the 2020-21 crop year.

A total of 257 mills were operating as of Sept. 1, down five from the same period of 2020.

Total recoverable sugar, or ATR, in H2 August was 154.85 kg/mt, down 0.71% year on year.

Ethanol production, sales

Ethanol production in CS Brazil was 2.23 billion liters in H2 August, up 2.40% from a year earlier, UNICA said. Hydrous ethanol production accounted for 1.29 billion liters of the total, down 15.00% on the year. Anhydrous ethanol output was at 941 million liters, up 42.34% on the year, it said.

Between the start of the 2021-22 harvest and Sept. 1, ethanol production totaled 18.65 billion liters, with 11.49 billion liters of hydrous ethanol and 7.15 billion liters of anhydrous ethanol being produced.

Corn ethanol production in H2 August was 135.65 million liters, with 98.46 million liters of hydrous ethanol and 37.19 million liters of anhydrous ethanol being produced.

Ethanol sales by mills in CS Brazil during August were 2.45 billion liters, 9.8% lower year on year, with 2.32 billion liters going to the domestic market and 134.28 million liters for exports.

The quantity of hydrous ethanol sold to the domestic market during August was 1.43 billion liters, down 11.7% on the year. The quantity of anhydrous ethanol sold to the domestic market during August was 887.10 million liters, 11.4% higher on the year.

Since the beginning of the 2021-22 harvest, cumulative sales of ethanol in the region totaled 12.22 billion liters, or an increase of 3.06%, from the same period last year.