Brazil's sugar crushing fell by 18% during the first half of March.

Unica, a Brazilian industry group, said that the amount of sugar cane crushed in the center-south region in Brazil during the first six months of March was down almost 18% compared to the same period last year.

Unica reported that the sugar production in the area during the same time period fell by 19%, to 52,000 tonnes, while the ethanol production increased by around 20%, at 442 millions liters.

19 processing units began the harvest for 2025/26 early in the first two weeks March. The harvest begins officially in April for the center-south region of Brazil.

Unica reported that 37 production units operated in the region at the end of a fortnight. Unica specified that 22 produced sugarcane ethanol, 10 produced corn ethanol and five were flexible plants.

Luciano Rodrigues', Unica's director of sector intelligence, stated that at least 19 production units planned to resume operations in the second part of the month. "But this schedule could change depending on climate and operational conditions within each sugarcane area," he said.

(source: Reuters)