BRAZIL: Kingsman lowers production estimate by 3%
Published: 07/02/2012, 2:49:50 PM
Switzerland-based consultancy Kingsman SA Monday lowered its estimate for Brazil's centre-south sugar output this crop year by 3% from its earlier estimate to 31.8 million metric tonnes, citing wet weather conditions that lowered the sucrose content of the cane and delayed its crushing, according to Dow Jones.
"The wet weather has taken its toll on the cane, and it will take at least a month for it to dry out and to start building sucrose," it said in a statement.
"As such, our earlier forecast of total recoverable sugar, or ATR, of 139 kilograms per metric tonne looks unrealistic, and we have lowered it to 137.5 kilograms/tonne," it said, adding that the sugar cane crush for the year that began April 1 will likely be 500 million tonnes, down 10 million tonnes from its earlier estimate in April.
"In our forecasts above, we have assumed that the weather will be reasonable for the rest of the season," it said.
The medium-term forecast is for dry and warm weather, it said. However, if severe El Nino wet weather conditions develop, the forecasts may need to be revised even lower, Kingsman said.