Rain to push Brazil sugar output to later in year

Reuters
Tue Jun 26, 2012 5:42pm EDT

* Rain will help boost cane crop later in year
* Mills were kept from harvesting by rains early in season
* Mills favoring sugar production this year (Adds further details on report)

SAO PAULO, June 26 (Reuters) - Widespread rain during the first few months of Brazil's center-south sugarcane crush has slowed sugar and ethanol production and will push more of that output to the second half of the season, cane industry association Unica said on Tuesday.

Sugar output from the main center-south crush from April through mid-June fell 28 percent, compared with a year ago, to 4.89 million tonnes.

Production of ethanol over the same period fell 33 percent to 3.61 billion liters, Unica said in its biweekly crushing report.

Read more