Oct 18, 2010
Heavy Rains in September Delays Sugarcane Harvesting in Brazil
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Virtually no rain fell in southeastern Brazil between early April and early September, but heavy rains during the second half of September have kept tractors out of the fields and reduced the amount of sugarcane harvested in the region. Rainfall during the month of September in the state of Sao Paulo, which is the major sugarcane producing state in Brazil, was 60% greater than the average precipitation during the month. On average, the sugarcane harvesters were out of the fields in southeastern Brazil for seven days during September compared to an average of three days. According the Union of Sugarcane Industries (Unica), 27.16 million tons of sugarcane was processed during the second half of September, which is a decline of 27% compared to the previous year. This is also a 35% reduction compared to the 42 million tons processed during the second half of August.
Heavy rains also reduce the quality of the sugarcane. During the second half of September the sucrose content of the sugarcane declined to 44.7% compared to 46.4% during the first half of the month. Researchers from Unica indicate that it is normal for the quality of the sugarcane to decline during the last third of the harvest (October, November, and December) due to the start of the rainy season in southern Brazil.
Total ethanol production in Brazil for the first nine months of the year is up 22% compared to 2009, but production fell 20% during the second half of September. Even though Brazilian ethanol production is up significantly for the year thus far, total ethanol sales are down 5.5% due mainly to steep declines in exports. From April to September, 13.3 billion liters of ethanol were sold by Unica members, which is a decline of 5.5% compared to a year earlier. Domestic sales of ethanol in Brazil are up 1.3% compared to last year.
The sugarcane harvest in southeastern Brazil usually begins in early April and ends in early December, but Unica has indicated that eight sugar mills have already closed for the season due to the reduced sugarcane tonnage resulting from the prolonged dry season.