Brazilian mills still pushing hard for ethanol as crush looks to end early

In Brazil, Platts reports that UNICA data shows sugar mills continue to heavily favor ethanol production over sugar despite an increase in sugar prices the past few weeks. During the first half of October, mills produced 1.48 billion liters of ethanol, down 6.6% lower on the year due to the smaller cane crush, but ethanol still took up 68% of cane during the period. Hydrous ethanol sales during the period were 42% higher on the year. Already 15 mills stopped crushing for the year during H1 October while UNICA expects at least another 60 to stop crushing before month’s end.