Mills in Brazil’s Centre-South region produced 47,000 tn of sugar during the first fortnight of March, down 35.5% from 73,000 tn produced in the year-ago period, the country’s sugarcane industry association, known by its Portuguese acronym UNICA. Production of sugar fell sharply as most of the cane crushed by mills during the period was used for production of ethanol, prices of which are more attractive currently. Centre-South Brazil accounts for over 90% of the country’s total sugar output. Mills in the region crushed 3.33 mln tn of cane during Mar 1-16, up 1.7% on year. During Apr 1-Mar 15, mills crushed 588.47 mln tn of cane, down 1.8% on year. During the same period, they produced 35.89 mln tn sugar, up 1.5% on year.