São Paulo – Sugar-energy sector producers in the Centre-South of Brazil expect growth of 10.67% in the 2013/2014 crop, according to a study disclosed on Monday (29) by the São Paulo Sugarcane Agroindustry Union (Unica). The forecast is for the grinding of 589.6 million tonnes of sugarcane in this cycle. In the previous crop, some 532.76 million tonnes were processed.
Among the factors favouring the growth is expansion of 6.5% in the available area for cultivation. Apart from that, sector expectations are for significant expansion of agricultural production due to the reduced age of the crop and to improved climate conditions identified in recent months, which favoured greater production.
According to Unica, the expansion of 7.67% in productivity should result in growth of 14% in availability of sugarcane for production of sugar and ethanol. This volume of raw material, however, should not all be processed before the first half of December 2013. So the traditional total of 1.5% of the cane crop that is processed in the next crop should rise to 3.5%.
*Translated by Mark Ament
