BRAZIL: UNICA SAYS CANE CRUSH IN CENTRE SOUTH UP 6.4% IN 1H JUNE; RECORD ETHANOL SALES

June 26, 2018

Sugaronline (Anna Flavia Rochas) | https://goo.gl/iEfXsx

Sugarcane crush in Brazil's centre-south increased 6.4% in the first half of June, in relation to the same period last year, to 42.03 million tonnes, and ethanol sales reached a record high, according to industry association UNICA, reports Anna Flavia Rochas for Sugaronline. 

Cane mills in the centre-south sold 1.41 billion litres of ethanol in the Brazilian domestic market in the first fortnight of June, up 48.15% from the same time last year. Hydrous ethanol sales reached 907.07 million litres, up 66.54% in relation to the same period of the 2017/18 harvest. Anhydrous ethanol sales totaled 503.79 million litres, up 23.57%.

“The historic result is due to the greater competitiveness of hydrous ethanol in relation to gasoline and the impact of the truckers' strike, which provoked the interruption of ethanol production in the second half of May,” said Antonio de Padua Rodrigues, technical director a UNICA, via statement. 

Mills increased production of ethanol to meet consumption and replenish inventories in the first half of June, after the end of the truckers' strike that haltered distribution of ethanol to fuel stations in the second half of May. 

Ethanol production totaled 2.15 billion litres in the first half of June, up 42.17% from the same time last year. Hydrous ethanol production reached 1.45 billion litres (+77.29%) and anhydrous ethanol output totaled 701 million litres (+0.88%).

Corn ethanol production totaled 20.11 million litres in the first half of June.

Since the start of the 2018/19 season in April, total ethanol production by centre-south mills has totaled 8.7 billion litres, up 49.49% from the same time last year. About 137.04 million litres of this total volume is corn ethanol, which production increased 161% year-on-year.

Ethanol exports totaled 29.77 million litres in the first half of June, down 57.71% from the same time in June 2017. 

The greater volume of ethanol produced so far this season is mainly due to a change in the production mix by centre-south mills. In the first half of June, 63.53% of the processed sugarcane was used to produce ethanol, compared to 50.63% in the same period of the 2017/18 crop.

Since the start of the season in April, 64.98% of the total cane crushed has been directed for ethanol production. 

Sugar production decreased 17.21% in the first half of June, to 1.98 million tonnes. From April to June 15, sugar output reached 7.47 million tonnes, down 7.83% in relation to the same time last year. 

Centre-south mills crushed 176.97 million tonnes of sugarcane from April-June 15, up 16.65%.UNICA says 255 mills in the centre-south were operating by June 15, in comparison with 266 mills at the same time last year.