UNICA, the Brazilian sugarcane industry association, has announced the volume of sugarcane processed was up during the second half of July. Sugar production was down, while ethanol production was up slightly from 2018.

Mills in the south-central region of Brazil processed 49.69 million tons of sugarcane during the second half of July, up 4.25 percent from the same period of last year. Since the beginning of the current harvest season, which began April 1, approximately 307.81 million tons of sugarcane has been processed, down from 316.53 million tons during the same period of last year.

Since April 1, approximately 35.31 percent of the sugarcane processed has gone to sure production. The remainder was used to produce ethanol. Sugar production for the second half of July was down 5.5 percent from the same period of last year. Since the beginning of the current harvest season, sugar production is down 9.87 percent.

Ethanol production for the second half of July reached 2.65 billion liters (700.06 million gallons), including 835.06 million liters of anhydrous ethanol and 1.81 billion liters of hydrous ethanol. Ethanol production during the same period of last year reached 2.62 billion liters.

Since the beginning of the current season, mills in the region have produced 15.48 billion liters of ethanol, including 4.79 billion liters of anhydrous ethanol and 10.69 billion liters of hydrous ethanol.

Ethanol sales by units in the south-central region reached 2.92 billion liters in July, including 2.7 billion liters sold domestically and 222.34 million liters destined for export.

Domestically, sales of hydrous ethanol reached 1.94 billion liters in July, up 12.94 percent when compared to July 2018. Domestic sales of anhydrous ethanol reached 755.02 million liters in July.