New survey by DATAGRO indicates more sugarcane for milling in the 2026/27 harvest in the Center-South region of Brazil.

The 2026/27 sugar and ethanol harvest in Brazil’s Center-South region officially begins tomorrow (April 1st), with a virtually unanimous expectation in the market: there will be greater availability of sugarcane for milling. In general, weather conditions have been favorable for the development of the region’s sugarcane fields, which have shown a good response, especially since January, with faster biomass gains compared to the same period last year. Between October 1st, 2025 and March 2nd, 2026, the accumulated rainfall in the Center-South was 1,092 mm, a volume 7.2% above the historical average for the period. Given this scenario, the second survey by… DATAGRO The forecast for the new season indicates the milling of 642 million tons of sugarcane, a volume 5.2% higher than the 610.5 million tons processed in 2025/26. The first projection, presented during the 10th DATAGRO Crop OpeningThe estimate pointed to 635 million tons. “Although we must still wait for the rains between April and May in order to better assess the sugarcane fields to be harvested in the second half of this year, the defining point for this season will be the performance of agricultural productivity in the initial phase of the harvest, that is, between April and June,” says the consultancy. On the other hand, the DATAGRO The report highlights that the probability of El Niño occurring in the second half of the year could cause atypical rainfall during the harvest period, as well as the flowering of the plants, jeopardizing the chance of sugarcane fields recovering the same ATR (Total Recoverable Sugar) level recorded two years ago. Therefore, the consultancy reduced its estimate of ATR levels for the 2026/27 harvest from 138.7 to 138.1 kg/tc. The mix for sugar production remains projected at 48.5%, compared to 50.3% in the previous season. As a result, sweetener production should reach 40.98 million tons in the 2026/27 season, compared to the previous projection of 40.41 million tons produced in 2025/26. Total ethanol production should reach a record 38.61 billion liters, with 11.80 billion liters coming from corn.

This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.