Sugar vs. ethanol: what will Center-South Brazil mills prioritize in the 2022-23 crop?

Center-South Brazil's crop officially started on April 1, and although more than 70% of the expected sugar exports are already hedged, there is still flexibility for the allocation of the sugarcane mix to switch between sugar and ethanol. The final mix will largely depend on the relative prices of sugar and ethanol, which are exposed to several factors such as international oil prices, the Brazilian real, weather, fuel demand, and fuel pricing policy.

Nicolle Monteiro de Castro, senior price specialist for agriculture, and Luciana Torrezan Soncin, global manager of sugar analytics, discuss the key variables impacting the 2022-23 Center-South Brazil sugarcane crop, and how the local and global geopolitical factors can potentially impact the ultimate sugar and ethanol production figures.

This Commodities Focus podcast was produced by Jennifer Pedrick in Houston.