REPORTS

Brazil sugar production up 55% in May; ethanol sales recover – UNICA - Brazil's centre-south region produced 2.5 million tonnes of sugar in the first half of May, up 55% from a year earlier, as mills continued to favor sweetener production over ethanol. According to industry group Unica, mills allocated 47.2% of the cane to sugar production in the period, versus 36% a year earlier. But hydrous ethanol sales fell less than in April.

 

Bonded sugar waiting to enter China – ECRUU - China imported 120,000mt of sugar in April, down by 220,000mt on year, according to customs data. A local analyst said that the end of the anti-dumping measures were unlikely to cause a collapse in domestic prices given that the government still controls import licences and that no licences have yet been issued, leaving domestic sugar as the only supply. He added that the expiry of the anti-dumping tariffs had been priced in and that domestic prices could, in fact, rise, if the quantity of licences is lower, or distributed later. However, any rise is expected to be quickly capped, especially as there is, reportedly, plenty of sugar in bonded warehouses waiting for licences to be cleared.

 

Nordzucker cuts losses, says post-lockdown sugar market to stabilise – Reuters - Germany's second largest sugar refiner Nordzucker reported reduced losses on Wednesday and said it hopes to return to profit in its new financial year as easing coronavirus lockdowns stabilise sugar prices and demand. Following benefits from cost-cutting and efficiency programmes, Nordzucker posted a 15 mn euro ($16.4 mn) net loss for its 2019/20 financial year to end-February against a loss of 36 million euros in the previous year. "Due to the (lockdown) easing, we currently expect that the impact of the corona pandemic on demand in the EU will be relatively small and that prices will remain largely stable," CEO Lars Gorissen said in a statement.

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