The amount of sugarcane crushed in Brazil's Parana state in the last 15 days of September totaled 2.36 million mt, an increase of 50% year on year and up 8% compared with previous two-week period, Bioenergy Producers Association of Parana (Alcopar) said Tuesday.
The 2015-2016 sugarcane season in Center-South (CS) Brazil started in April and usually lasts for seven months. It is the largest producing region in the world. Parana is one of the producing states in Center-South. The crushing days lost to rain during September 16-30 could not be confirmed.
"We don't have data for the days lost to rain, as it occurred quite unevenly, varying across sugarcane regions," Alcopar said.
For the whole Center-South, however, Kingsman, an agricultural unit of Platts, estimates 2.1 days lost to rain.
Despite the rains in Parana, the ATR -- or total recoverable sugar per ton of cane -- was 155.6 kg in the second half of September, only 0.1 kg higher than in the same period a year ago and up 7.9 kg on the prior two-week period.
Sugar production totaled 198,893 mt, up 70% compared with a year ago, while ethanol production was up 31% year on year at 92.5 million liters.
From the beginning of the current sugarcane harvest in April through the end of September, the amount of sugarcane crushed was slightly 0.1% higher year on year at 30.49 million mt.
Total sugar production through the end of September totaled 2.14 million mt, up 4.9% year on year, while ethanol production is up 1.6% year on year at 1.13 billion liters.
Of that ethanol total, 707 million liters was hydrous ethanol -- down 4.5% year on year -- and the balance of 422 million liters was anhydrous, up nearly 14%, Alcopar said.
The percentage of cane diverted to ethanol production so far this season is 46%, compared with 47% in the 2014-15 season, with the balance diverted to sugar production. Meanwhile, the ATR so far this season was 137.16 kg/mt, up 3.2% from 132.86 kg/mt a year ago.
Alcopar estimates for the 2015-16 season predict that total cane crushed will be 43.08 million mt, a decrease of 5% compared with the season before. Early in August, Alcopar said mills will leave the cane in the fields to be crushed early next season, due to El Nino.
