Sugar production in Brazil’s key center-south region totaled 2.44 million metric tons in the first half of October, industry group UNICA said on Friday, an 8% increase when compared with a year earlier.

Sugarcane crushing in the period rose 2.75% to 33.83 million tons, UNICA said in a report.

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Both figures came in above market expectations, which stood at 2.37 million tons for sugar output and 33.51 million tons for cane crushing, according to a S&P Global Commodity Insights survey.