BRAZIL: 2009/10 cane crush at 535.2 million tonnes to March 1
Published: 03/11/2010, 8:27:11 AM
Brazil's main centre-south 2009/10 sugarcane crush reached 535.2 million metric tonnes as of March 1, according to Dow Jones.
The crush volume was 6.35% higher than for the same period a year ago, UNICA said.
UNICA said mills in the centre-south region, which account for 90% of the country's sugarcane output, crushed 2.26 million tonnes of sugarcane in the second half of February.
Total sugar output reached 28.53 million tonnes, 6.86% higher than the 26.7 millions tonnes produced a year earlier, the trade association said in its report on the centre-south region of the country.
The region's ethanol production reached 23.29 billion litres as of March 1, down against 24.99 billion litres the same time in 2008/09.
UNICA said 42.87% of the sugarcane processed through March 1 was used to produce sugar, with 57.13% used for making ethanol.
The Sao Paulo-based trade association said that industrial yield, known as ATRs, dropped by 7.3% from last year's crop to 130.51 kilograms per tonne of cane for the 2009/10 crop. This means that less sugar or ethanol can be extracted from the same volume of sugarcane crushed.