Sugar production in Brazil's Center-South for the first half of May totaled 2.376 million mt, a drop of 4.39% from the prior year, data from trade association UNICA showed May 26.
The figure was above the consensus expectations of 2.178 million mt from 10 analysts S&P Global Platts surveyed May 21.
Mills in CS Brazil crushed 41.07 million mt of sugarcane in H1 May, down 3.01% year on year, UNICA said.
The cumulative sugar crush in CS Brazil since April 1 was up to 86.31 million mt through H1 May. April 1 was the beginning of the 2021-22 crop year. This figure was down 16.24% compared with the same period in the 2020-21 crop year.
Sugar production since April 1 reached 4.529 million mt or a decrease of 17.51% from the same period in the 2020-21 crop year.
"The reduction in the cane crush for H1 May was because of an average 10-12 day delayed start to the 2021-22 harvest because of poor cane maturation, which has caused a ripple effect with [fewer] mills in operation in H1 May compared [with] the previous year," a São Paulo-based trader said.
A total of 234 mills were operating as of May 16, down six from the same period of 2020. There were 229 mills processing sugarcane, four processing corn ethanol, and one flex mill operating. Market participants expect another 11 mills to begin operating in H2 May.
Sugar's share of the crush for H1 May was 46.15% compared with 47.01% a year earlier.
Total recoverable sugar, or ATR, in H1 May was 131.57 kg/mt, up 0.39% year on year.
Ethanol production, sales
Ethanol production in CS Brazil was 1.82 billion liters in H1 May, down 0.61% from a year earlier, UNICA said. Hydrous ethanol production accounted for 1.21 billion liters of the total, down 8.32% on the year. Anhydrous ethanol output was 603 million liters, up 19.65% on the year, it said.
Between the start of the 2021-22 harvest and May 16, ethanol production totaled 3.84 billion liters, with 1.05 billion liters of anhydrous ethanol and 2.79 billion liters of hydrous ethanol being produced.
Corn ethanol production in H1 May was 106.92 million liters, an increase of 12.50% year on year.
Ethanol sales by mills in CS Brazil during H1 May were 1.18 billion liters, 10.35% higher year on year, with 1.16 billion liters going to the domestic market and 15.05 million liters for export.
The quantity of hydrous ethanol sold during H1 May was 779.97 million liters, up 5.47% on the year. The quantity of anhydrous ethanol sold during H1 May was 382.47 million liters, 30.28% higher on the year.
Since the beginning of the 2021-22 harvest, cumulative sales of ethanol in the region totaled 3.33 billion liters, or an increase of 15.56%, from the same period last year.
Ethanol for non-fuel purposes sold in H1 May was 43.6 million liters, a decrease of 32.92% year on year. The drop in non-fuel ethanol sales was driven by weaker demand for hand sanitizer, UNICA said.
