Sugarcane crushing in the 2nd half of June drops 7,9% compared to the 2021/2022 harvest

Sugarcane crushing in the second half of June in the Center-South region reached 41,88 million tons, which represents a decline of 7,92% in relation to the amount recorded in the same period last year, when 45,48 .187,61 million tons were processed. In the accumulated harvest, crushing totaled 212,42 million tons compared to 2021 million tons recorded in the same period in 11,68 – a drop of XNUMX%.

Until July 1st, 253 units operated compared to 259 units in the same period of the 2021/2022 cycle. For the second half of July, two other units should start crushing in the Center-South.

Preliminary information from the Sugarcane Technology Center (CTC), for a common sample of 36 production units, indicates that 77,5 tons were harvested per hectare in June 2022, which represents a 1,2% drop in the crop's agricultural yield compared to the same period in the 2021/2022 harvest (76,5 tons per hectare). Unica's technical director, Antonio de Padua Rodrigues, explains that “despite the recovery in agricultural yield observed in June, the expectation is that, in the accumulated harvest, the indicator will mark a retraction of 0,8%”.

The quality of the raw material harvested in the second half of June, measured in kg of ATR per ton of sugarcane processed, decreased by 3,30% compared to the same period in the last agricultural cycle, registering 137,08 kg of ATR per ton harvested. In the accumulated harvest, the drop is 4,35% with the indicator showing 127,28 kg of ATR per ton.

Sugar and ethanol production

Sugar production in the second half of June totaled 2,49 million tons (-14,98%). In the accumulated since the beginning of the 2022/2023 harvest, the production of the sweetener totals 9,68 million tons, compared to 12,34 million tons in the previous cycle (-21,58%).

In the second half of June, 2,02 billion liters (-3,90%) of ethanol were manufactured. Of the total volume produced, hydrous reached 1,16 billion liters (-6,63%), while anhydrous ethanol production totaled 859,86 million liters (+0,06%). In the current agricultural cycle, alcohol production reached 9,02 billion liters (-7,17%), of which 5,80 billion consist of hydrated ethanol (-7,86%) and 3,22 billion in anhydrous (-5,89%).

Of the total biofuel manufactured, production from corn in the second half of June recorded 188,84 million liters, compared to 125,23 million liters in the same period of the 2021/2022 cycle – an increase of 50,79%. In the accumulated since the beginning of the harvest, production reached 961,76 million liters - an increase of 33,27% compared to the same period last year.

The Unica executive highlights that “to date, plants in the Center-South region have stopped manufacturing around 1,22 million tons of sugar in favor of increasing ethanol production. Furthermore, the supply of the product from corn has seen robust growth and already represents more than 10% of total alcohol production in the harvest. These factors contribute to the fact that, despite the drop of more than 11% in the quantity of sugarcane processed and 4% in quality, the decline in ethanol supply is around 7%”.

Ethanol sales

In June, production units in the Center-South sold 2,46 billion liters of ethanol, which represents a decrease of 1,00% compared to the same period in the 2021/2022 harvest.

In the domestic market, the volume of hydrated ethanol sold was 1,33 billion liters, which represents a drop of 6,35% compared to the previous year. Domestic sales of anhydrous ethanol, in turn, totaled 836,81 million liters in the month, a volume 2,01% lower than that observed in June 2021. In the accumulated harvest, 4,11 billion liters of hydrous ethanol were sold domestically (-6,86%) and 2,42 billion liters of anhydrous ethanol (+3,65%).

Since the beginning of the 2022/2023 harvest, global sales (domestic market and exports) of production units total 7,03 billion liters of ethanol, which represents a drop of 1,86% compared to the same period in the previous harvest. Of this volume, sales of hydrated ethanol totaled 4,30 billion liters (-8,03%); anhydrous ones, 2,73 billion liters (+9,70%).

CBios market

Data from B3 show that, in June, 2,96 million CBios were issued. As of July 8, the obligated party of the RenovaBio program had already acquired around 24,13 million decarbonization credits[1]. This volume represents 66% of the total acquisition target for the current year.

The director of Unica explains that “the volume of ethanol to be sold in the next six months should promote an additional issuance of more than 15,50 million credits. In this condition, an availability of 7 million CBios beyond the target for the year 2022 must be observed in December. Therefore, there is no evidence of a lack of credits for the current year that would make it impossible to meet the decarbonization targets.” Rodrigues adds that “it is necessary to emphasize that this stock will not necessarily be, at the end of the period, in the possession of the primary issuer.

As noted in 2021, the obligated party uploaded more than 5 million titles to the subsequent year. It is possible that the same movement will occur this year, with distributors owning a large part of the unretired credits.”