From the Newsroom*
São Paulo – Brazil will produce 27.2 million tonnes of sugar from the sugar cane to be harvested in the 2005/2006 crop. The estimate is by the National Food Supply Company (Conab). Brazilian national sugar cane production should reach 450.2 million tonnes on the next crop.
Of the total harvested, 401.5 million tonnes will be directed to the sugar-alcohol sector. There will be 182.8 million tonnes used to produce alcohol, which means 17.5 billion litres, and 218.7 million tonnes for sugar production.
In the previous harvest, Brazil produced around 25 million tonnes of sugar and exported 18 million tonnes. This year, about 20 million tonnes should be sold in the international market.
The Arab countries are great buyers of the Brazilian product abroad. In 2004, they imported US$ 1 billion of sugar from Brazil. In other words, about one quarter of Brazilian exports to the region, which were of approximately US$ 4 billion last year, correspond to the commodity.
Between January and May this year crude sugar exports yielded US$ 825 million to Brazil, which meant a 128% increase over the same period of the previous year. External sales of refined sugar were at US$ 544 million and increased 48.2%.
Sugar cane
Of the 450 million tonnes of sugar cane that the country will harvest, 84.2% will come from the mid-south region and 15.8% from the northeast. The area planted with sugar cane will reach 6.094 million hectares, according to Conab, which is related to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply.
As well as the volume of sugar cane directed to the alcohol and sugar industry, another 48.7 million tonnes will be used in the production of products like cachaça (typical Brazilian spirit), rapadura (sweet made from sugar cane, also characteristic of Brazil) and animal food.
The Conab study took place in the second half of May. There were 465 representatives of 365 sugar mills and alcohol distilleries and 60 producers associations and public organisations interviewed.
*Translated by Silvia Lindsey
