Wet weather in Brazil to hold off early start to cane crush

In Brazil, Platts reports that wet weather has dampened sugar mills’ hopes to begin the crush early in mid-March rather than wait for the traditional start in April when the summer typically dries out more. The delay to the crush that would have added supplies of hydrous ethanol to the market helped to boost prices to $771.40/cu m earlier this week, the highest seen in nearly four years. Rain is expected to continue through the rest of March, not in heavy volumes but wet enough to frustrate cane harvest.