hEDGEpoint reduces the mix of cane representing 1.1 million tons less sugar produced in the center-south of Brazil

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The new sugarcane crop in south-central Brazil (2022/23), which started this month, will be one of the least sugar-producing in recent years, with mills focusing on ethanol, hEDGEpoint Global said on Wednesday. Markets, which reduced the forecast for the “mix” of raw material destined for sugar to 42.8%. The previous expectation was that sugar would demand a share of 44.5% of the cane processed in 22/23 (compared to 45% in the previous harvest), but good ethanol prices for the mills and a recovery in parity with competing fuel , gasoline, should lead the sector to allocate more sugarcane to the production of biofuel. According to the risk management and hedging company for agricultural and energy commodities, the reduction in the “mix” represents 1.1 million tons less of sugar produced in the center-south of Brazil. As a result, sugar production was revised to 31.4 million tons, down 2.2% from the previous cycle, and the lowest production since 2019/20 (26.8 ...