Ethanol output in Brazil's key center-south region was 167.854 million liters (44.342 million gallons) in the second half of March, up 665% from the first half of the month, according to data released Tuesday by trade group Unica.
The surge in ethanol output for the second half of March was attributed to Unica's inclusion of data for the new 2014-2015 sugar-cane harvest in the latest figures, a spokeswoman for the trade group said. While the 2014-2015 harvest officially began April 1, several mills started output in March, the spokeswoman said.
The number of sugar mills in operation has surged over the past month, jumping to 144 on April 15 from 22 on March 15, Unica said. Sugar mills are also grinding greater volumes of cane that contains a higher sugar content, further boosting production compared with the 2012-2013 harvest, the trade group added.
Ethanol output was 76.827 million liters in the same period last year, according to Unica.
Center-south region sugar mills produced 33.3 million liters of anhydrous ethanol in the second half of March, while hydrous ethanol output was 134.551 million liters.
Sugar mills are also opting to produce more ethanol from the harvest because of a global sugar glut that has depressed prices for the sweetener.
"The production of ethanol is always greater at the start of the harvest," Antonio de Padua Rodrigues, Unica's technical director, said in a statement. "This year, that trend should be maintained because of lower sugar demand in the physical market and the need for liquidity and cash flow from production units with financial problems."
In March, 65.81% of the harvest was directed toward ethanol output, while 34.19% was for sugar production. That was down slightly from March 2013, when ethanol output represented 70.19% of the harvest and sugar was 29.81%.
Sugar mills ground 4.491 million mt of cane in March, up from 2.047 million mt in March 2013. Ethanol yield was 43 liters/mt in March, up from 38.7 liters/mt the same month last year.
Sugar production, meanwhile, jumped to 161,000 mt during the month, more than triple the 52,000 mt in the same month of 2013.
