Cuba is closing its once powerful Sugar Ministry in favour of a state holding company charged with pulling the sector out of a long decline, official media announced on Thursday.
Sugar output in Brazil, the world’s largest producer and exporter, will unexpectedly fall this year after freezing weather pared crop yields, the Agriculture Ministry said on Tuesday.
Brazil will reduce the ethanol content in gasoline in another effort to contain inflation since sugar (and ethanol) prices because of a poor crop have been soaring, according to the Sao Paulo press.
Sugar jumped the most since October after an industry group said output would decline in Brazil, the world’s biggest grower. Production in the Centre South, Brazil’s largest growing area, may drop by as much as 1 million metrics in the current season compared with a year earlier, Unica said on Friday.
Brazil's government unveiled new financing and other incentives for sugar cane ethanol production, vowing to work closely with the private sector to boost production in an industry that has struggled recently despite its immense promise.