Main Points
- Dry Weather contributes to crushing recovery, with 44 mmt of cane being harvested on 2H August.
- Sugar mix reaches 48.5%, the highest for the period since 2013.
- Even so, cumulative sugar production remains 11% lower than in the past crop.
2H August 2022 Production Figures
Smaller Precipitation helps Crushing
- A slightly drier weather allowed the pace to recover from the previous fortnight – 44 mmt of cane were processed in the 2H of August.
- Improved agricultural productivity also contributed to this increase in crushing.
- As we had estimated, the August agriculture productivity showed a significant recovery from the previous crop – our research shows a more than 12% increase yoy.
- Something that stands out is the sugar mix, which went from 46.8% in the first half of the month to 48.5%.
- At first glance, it seems that mills are migrating even more towards sugar.
- Yes, this is partly true, specially considering with the drop in the ethanol market.
- However, UNICA points out that this significant increase in the mix may be a statistical discrepancy due to the percentage of distilleries’ share in the total crushing.
- However, the cumulative production in the CS is still 11% below the previous crop.
- This volume is expected to reach the same levels as last year only in October
- Therefore, for sugar production to exceed 32.5 mmt, the harvest is expected to end later this year.
Anhydrous Sales Growing
- In the opposite direction to hydrous, anhydrous ethanol had a significant increase in sales in August:
- 1.08 billion liters were sold in the month – an increase of 15% compared to July.
- Expected growth given that gasoline prices were more attractive to consumers – average parity in São Paulo was 71%.
- In addition, according to Unica, cabotage operations to the Northeast also contributed to the increase in anhydrous sales in the month.
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