Brazil State's Sugar-Cane Crush to Be Delayed, Cepea Says

Bloomberg
By Isis Almeida - Mar 27, 2012 5:49 AM CT

Sugar-cane crushing in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state will start later this season due to limited availability of the raw material, according to Cepea.

Harvesting probably will begin in the second half of April, the University of Sao Paulo research group said in a report e- mailed yesterday, citing its own survey. Farmers usually start gathering the crop at the end of March or beginning of April, according to Cepea analyst Heloisa Lee Burnquist. Brazil is the world’s largest sugar producer and Sao Paulo state is located in the Center-South region, the country’s main growing area.

Sugar-cane output in the Center South fell for the first time in a decade in the 2011-12 season after dry weather, frost, flowering and advanced age of the cane fields cut yields, according to industry group Unica.

Read more