SAO PAULO, Dec 22 (Reuters) - French sugar maker Tereos said on Friday its sugar output in Brazil grew 19% in the 2023/2024 harvest, along with better-than-expected sugarcane crushing.
The company said it destined 67% of its sugarcane to produce the sweetener, reaching a total output of around 1.9 million metric tons of sugar.
Crushing at the group's six operational units in Brazil, located mostly in the northwest of Sao Paulo state, totaled 21.1 million tons, up 22% year-on-year and above the 19 million tons the firm had estimated at the start of the harvest.
"With the favorable weather conditions and various improvements we implemented... we achieved a historic result, reaching record crushing," said the firm's Brazil head, Pierre Santoul, in a statement.
Given ongoing initiatives to improve productivity, the executive said, Tereos maintains "positive prospects for the 24/25 harvest."
The firm's production of sugarcane-based ethanol also grew 20% to 580 million liters, while the electricity generated from sugarcane biomass in the season grew 7%. (Reporting by Roberto Samora; Writing by Peter Frontini; Editing by David Gregorio)
