Brazil's key center-south region saw a 10.31% year-on-year increase in ethanol production in the second half of August, industry group UNICA said on Tuesday.
During that period, 1.924 billion liters of ethanol were produced in what the group said was the largest 15-day harvest in the last four periods.
The 857.4 million liters of anhydrous ethanol produced represented an increase of 16.47% from the same period in 2011. Hydrous ethanol production was 1.066 billion liters, a 5.82% increase from the same period last year, the trade group said in a statement.
Total ethanol production during the harvest through September 1, 2012 was 11.884 billion liters, a 14.03% drop compared to the same period in 2011. Of that, 4.548 billion liters were anhydrous ethanol and 7.336 billion liters were hydrous.
Sugarcane ground in the second half of August was 46.50 million mt, a 14.21% compared to the same period in 2011.
For the entire harvest season through September 1, the total volume of sugarcane processed was 307.596 million mt, a 9.40% drop from the comparable period of 2011.
In the second half of August, 48.41% of the sugarcane processed went for ethanol production, a decrease from the 48.85% during the same period last year. From the beginning of harvest season to September 1, this figure reached 50.83%, a drop from 52.33% during the same time period last year.
