Sugar production in Brazil is likely to be affected due to the fierce fire in Sao Paulo

10-Sep-2024 11:17 AM

Sao Paulo. In the Latin American country Brazil, 90 percent of sugar is produced in the central southern region and Sao Paulo is the most important producer state there.

In Brazil, the world's most important producer and exporter of sugar, about 60 percent of sugar is produced in Sao Paulo province alone,

but the sugarcane crop has started to burn due to the dry and hot weather as well as the fierce fire in the forests. The fire has spread and reached the sugarcane fields and the efforts to control it are failing.

According to Brazil's sugarcane producer organization Orplana, due to this fierce fire, sugarcane crop in an area of ​​more than one lakh hectares in Sao Paulo province has been affected, which is about 2 percent of the total sugarcane production area in the state.

It is worth mentioning that the sugarcane crop there was already getting damaged due to very high temperature and severe drought. Due to the outbreak of these natural disasters,

sugarcane crop worth about 80 crore reais is expected to be destroyed. Apart from this, where the crop is partially damaged, its quality is very poor and the average recovery rate of sugar (sucrose) is likely to be very low.

This forest fire is also likely to have an adverse effect on the next sugarcane crop, due to which the production of sugar and ethanol may be affected there even in the 2025-26 season. Once planted, sugarcane is grown there for five years and only after that replanting is required.

A leading consultancy firm has reduced the sugar production estimate in the Central Southern region of Brazil from 400 lakh tonnes to 393 lakh tonnes.

There is a possibility of a decline of 9.4 percent in sugarcane production and 7.4 percent in sugar production in this region during the 2024-24 season as compared to the 2023-24 season.