Brazil crushed 305.9 million tonnes or 90 percent of the center-south sugar cane crop by November 1, the Sao Paulo Cane Agroindustry Union (Unica) said on Friday. At this time during the 2004/05 (May/April) crop, 277.4 million tonnes of the cane in the centre-south had been harvested.
Sugar production reached nearly 20.3 million tonnes, which was up 5 percent from last year's 19.3 million, Unica said in a report. Unica forecast total centre-south sugar output at 23 million tonnes in 2005/06.
Ethanol output jumped 15 percent to 12.9 billion liters, compared with a year ago. Centre-south ethanol output is expected to reach 15 billion liters in 2005/06.
Over the past month, weather in the centre-south cane crop area has begun to turn wetter with near weekly showers, ending the typical months-long dry spell in the region. Rains tend to slow harvesting and raise production costs for mills.
Harvesting is expected to end in November.
Unica said of the 233 mills in the centre-south, 46 had already closed down for the season by October 31.
The centre-south crop accounts for about 85 percent of Brazil's total cane output. Brazil is the world's largest producer and exporter of sugar and ethanol.
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