Days of wildfires have inflicted heavy losses on the sugarcane industry in Brazil's Sao Paulo state, triggering the rise of ethanol and raw sugar prices.
The wildfires in Sao Paulo State caused losses of approximately 500 million reais to local sugarcane cultivation, according to the latest survey released by the Brazilian Sugarcane Producers Association on Aug 28.
Brazil, a major global producer of sugar, relies heavily on Sao Paulo, one of the country’s key sugarcane-producing regions. However, the recent wildfires have severely impacted the industry, disrupting harvest plans and threatening long-term production.
A sugarcane plantation in Ribeirao Preto had planned to harvest next week, but a sudden fire disrupted all arrangements.
"Now, the fire-burned sugarcane that remains unharvested can wait for another 10 to 15 days at most. If the processing factories arrive within this period to buy, transport and process the sugarcane (then some of the losses can be mitigated). If not, all the harvest will be lost," said Sergio, head of the sugarcane plantation.
His plantation had about 300 hectares of sugarcane, but 40 percent of which was affected by last week's fire.
According to Almir, the president of the Western Sugar Cane Growers Association of Sao Paulo State, one crop of sugarcane can be harvested 5 to 7 times, but many of the burned plants were forced to end the production cycle much early, far from achieving the expectations.
"Therefore, they need to start to replant sugarcane, which will take 18 months (to have the first harvest). This will have a negative impact on the 2025 to 2026 harvest season because the sugarcane is not yet growing in these areas. Farmers won't be able harvest their first batch of sugarcane in these replanted areas until the 2026 to 2027 harvest season," said Almir.
Affected by drought and extreme heat, some 2,316 wildfires have broken out in recent days, sparking fear and concern among residents in the state.
According to the National Institute for Space Research, that figure is almost seven times higher than the wildfires recorded in August of last year.
Wildfires ravage sugarcane industry in Brazil’s Sao Paulo State
