PARTIAL RECOVERY OF SUGARCANE CROP IN BRAZIL’S CENTER-SOUTH IN THE UPCOMING SEASON, RABOBANK SAYS

Rabobank said on Wednesday that the upcoming sugarcane crop cycle in Brazil’s Center-South (2022/23) will have only a partial recovery compared to the current season (2021/22), with an estimated volume at 530 million/550 million tons. This current forecast compares with the volume of around 525 million tons earlier projected for the 2021/22 season, however it was hampered by severe dry weather, and frost. After that, the current season has been putting pressure on production in the world’s largest sugarcane supplier region. In 2020/21, the volume of sugarcane crushed by Center-South producers was 605 million tons. “The plan for planting sugarcane in the region was not carried out properly,” said analyst Andy Duff. In this scenario of lower supply, Duff forecasts another year of high prices for the sugar and ethanol sector, considering the reduced cane availability for 2022/23. Despite the increase in costs, sugarcane industry will have good margins in the new harvest, which starts in April 2022.

Sources: Reuters/Notícias Agrícolas (*Translated by Ia Niani)