July 27, 2015
Sugaronline | http://goo.gl/rcqlek
UNICA, the Brazilian sugarcane industry association, recently announced ethanol production and sales by mills in the country’s south-central region hit record levels in June, according to the Ethanol Producer Magazine.
Producing units in the region sold 2.49 billion liters (647.79 million gallons) of ethanol in June. The majority of that volume, 2.36 billion liters, was sold into the Brazil’s domestic market, with only 124.08 million liters destined for export.
According to UNICA, domestic sales of anhydrous ethanol were down 1.79 percent when compared to the same month of 2014, falling to 831.43 million liters. Hydrous ethanol sales, however, hit a record high for the month with sales of 1.53 billion liters, up 51.76 percent when compared to June 2014.
From April through the end of June, UNICA said ethanol sales reached 6.93 billion liters, up 17.17 percent from the same period of the prior year. During the same period, domestic sales of hydrous ethanol increased 44.49 percent compared to last year, reaching 4.45 billion liters.
Data released by UNICA shows 46.5 million tons of cane was crushed in the south-central region of Brazil during the second half of June, up 5.33 percent compared to the same period of last year, with 86 million tons crushed during the entire month. While the June crush was up, the accumulated crush for the entire current season through the end of June was down slightly, falling to 200.53 million tons compared to 202.99 million tons during the same period of last year.
From the start of the current season through the end of June, the total recoverable sugars index was 121.03 kilograms per ton, down 2.73 percent from last year.
UNICA also noted the production of ethanol continues to be prioritized over the production of sugar. Ethanol production was 2 billion liters during the second half of June, and 3.67 billion liters for the full month, up 1.32 percent from June 2014. Of the 2 billion liters produced during the second half of June, 784.06 million liters was anhydrous ethanol and 1.22 billion liters was hydrous ethanol. For the entire month of June, anhydrous ethanol production reached 1.42 billion liters, with hydrous ethanol production reaching 2.24 billion liters.
From the start of the current season, UNICA said ethanol production has reached 8.58 billion liters, up from 8.45 billion liters during the same period of last year.