Mills in Brazil's main center-south cane-producing region produced 38 percent less sugar in April, the first month of the new crop year, compared to the same month a year ago, industry group Unica said on Friday. The industry group reported figures for the second-half of April with overall cane crush for all purposes falling 16% year-on-year for the period.
Unica said in its report that 27 mills in the region had yet to start crushing cane as of the end of April, as many companies decided to wait longer this year to kick off the new crop due to excessive moisture in the fields.
Mills continue to favor ethanol over sugar amid low global prices for the sweetener, dedicating only 30% of their production to sugar in the last half of April, compared to 35% at the same time last year. Sugar output fell 32% in the second half of April while hydrous ethanol production shrank 15%. In the overall month of April, however, sales of the biofeul are up 35% year-on-year.
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