São Paulo – Sugar production is expected to grow by 5.72% in the 2012-2013 crop compared with the preceding cycle and should reach 33.1 million tonnes in the Brazilian Mid-South. The region is responsible for over half the Brazilian sugarcane production and for 60% the ethanol production. The processing of cane into ethanol should grow by 4.58%, which is equivalent to 21.5 billion litres, according to the Sugarcane Industry Union (Unica).
The industry forecasts that 509 million tonnes of cane will be ground, a 3.19% increase over the preceding crop, when the volume was 493.2 million tonnes.
The planted area increased by roughly 3%, as a result of crop expansion in the states of Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás and Minas Gerais.
Still, the Unica technical director, Antonio de Padua Rodrigues, forecasts that the amount of raw material for processing mills should remain stable due to drought in February and March this year.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
