Brazil to harvest a 10% lower sugarcane crop due to weather problems

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil, the world’s largest sugarcane, refined sugar, and sugarcane ethanol producer and exporter, will harvest 585.2 million tons of sugarcane in the 2021-2022 crop, with a 10.6% drop compared to the previous one, due to the climatic problems faced by the country.

The new negative projection for the Brazilian sugarcane crop, the fourth and last for the harvest that concludes in the coming weeks, was disclosed this Wednesday by the National Supply Company (Conab), a technical body linked to the Ministry of Agriculture.

According to Conab, the drop in sugarcane production will be a consequence of the adverse weather conditions registered in the last year, mainly the drought that affected the country at the beginning of 2021 and the heavy frosts registered in June and July, which impacted the productivity of important producing regions.

“The combination of a drought in the second quarter (of 2021), in an intensity not seen for many years, with low temperatures in June, July, and August, and punctual frosts in several crops, caused a sharp drop in productivity in the production areas in the center and south of the country,” said the president of Conab, Guilherme Ribeiro, quoted in a statement from the agency.

Conab also attributed the drop in production to a 3.5% reduction in cultivated areas, from 8.6 million hectares for the 2020-2021 harvest to 8.3 million hectares for the 2021-2022 harvest.

The technicians noted that, despite the good prices of sugar and ethanol in international markets, many farmers had replaced their sugarcane crops with corn and soybean crops, which are currently more profitable.

“The dispute for area is becoming more acute in Brazil. The profitability of the land is an increasingly determining factor in the decision to choose the activity to which the land will be destined. The sum of soybean and corn profitability is practically unbeatable,” said Conab’s Director of Agricultural Information, Sergio De Zen.

“That explains the difficulties to expand or even maintain the area cultivated with sugarcane,” he added.

According to Conab, given the reduction in the sugarcane harvest, both Brazilian sugar and ethanol production shrank this year.

According to the agency, the production of refined sugar last year was estimated at 35.05 million tons, with a 15% drop compared to the 2020-2021 period.

Ethanol production, including cane and corn-based ethanol, fell by 7.7% to 30.26 billion liters. Ethanol production exclusively from sugarcane fell by 10% to 26.78 billion liters.

Despite the increase in the price of sugar on the international market, Brazilian sugar exports were limited to 26 million tons, a fall of 19.3%.

On the other hand, ethanol exports fell by 38.9%, to 1.8 billion liters.

With information from EFE