Mills in Brazil centre-south region produced 704,000 tonne of sugar during the first fortnight of April, down 51% from 1.44 million tonne produced a year ago, the country sugarcane industry association, known by its Portuguese acronym UNICA. The sharp fall in sugar output can be attributed to lower grinding and the reduction observed in the production mix. Of the total cane crushed so far, around 39.3% was used for sugar production, while 60.7% was used to make ethanol. In the corresponding period last year, around 41.0% of the cane crushed was used to produce sugar. Mills in the region, which accounts for more than 90% of Brazil total sugar output, crushed 17.66 million tonne of sugarcane during Apr 1-16, down 46.4% on year. Ethanol output was at 687 million litre during the period, down from 1.28 billion litre a year ago. Mills in the Brazil centre-south region are likely to produce 35.2 million tonne of sugar this season compared with 35.6 million tonne produced in the 2016-17 (Apr-Mar) season.