Brazilian cane crop seen record but below forecast

As Brazil's center-south 2008/09 cane harvest moves ahead, producers reduce their initial forecast of a strong rise in crushing to a smaller increase in output - though they still see a record. Showers and equipment delays in the beginning of the season, and excessive rains in early August disrupted harvesting.
There may be not enough time to crush all the remaining cane before the rainy season starts in December. Moreover, cane quality - or the industrial yields - has been lower than last year's. This means less sugar and ethanol per tonne of cane processed. "Output will likely be a little lower than what we expected initially for the center-south," said Luciano Sanches Fernandes, head of Biocana mills association, which comprises mills in the north-west of Sao Paulo, Brazil's main cane producing state.
Mills in the Biocana region are now expected to crush 43.6 million tonnes of cane, from an initial estimate of 45.1 million tonnes. "Cane will be left (in the fields) for next season. We crushed roughly half of the crop in five months and will have only three months or three and a half months to process the rest," he told Reuters.
UNICA The Sugar Cane Industry Association (Unica) will release a revised forecast for crushing this season around noon on Tuesday. In April, it had predicted a record of 498.1 million tonnes, up from 431.2 million tonnes in 2007/08. Unica has said in recent months it could revise this forecast downward due mainly to harvest delays caused by rains at the beginning of the season.
A dry spell in July boosted the harvesting pace but in the first half of August it was disrupted again due to unseasonable rains in top producing states. Fernandes said equipment delays also have prevented mills scheduled to start operating a few months ago to come on line this season.
Problems have been similar in Parana and Minas Gerais, Brazil's center-south No 2 and No 3 cane producing states. Since the beginning of the season until August 16, Parana crushed 20.6 million tonnes of cane, compared with 20.8 million the same period in 2007.