UPDATE 1-Brazil sugar output, ethanol exports soar; dryness hits cane yields -industry group

 (Adds data, comments from industry group Unica)
    By Luciano Costa and Marcelo Teixeira
    SAO PAULO/NEW YORK, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Sugar production and
ethanol exports increased sharply in Brazil in September as
mills enter the final weeks of the current season, but the
extremely dry weather started to hit cane agricultural yields,
industry group Unica said on Friday.
    Brazil's center-south sugar output reached 2.86 million
tonnes in the second half of September, 59% more than in the
same period a year earlier, as mills sharply favor the sweetener
in their production strategies at the expense of ethanol.
    Plants crushed 14% more cane in the period, or 40.22 million
tonnes, with above-average dry weather boosting harvest pace.
    However, Unica said the excessive dry climate has started to
hurt agricultural yields.
    Based on data from 90 mills in September, Unica said average
yield was 71.97 tonnes of cane per hectare, 1.4% less than seen
a year earlier.
    "That is still preliminary data, but shows a change on what
we have seen so far in the season," said Unica's technical
director Antonio de Padua Rodrigues. Yields this year had been
higher than last year all the way from the start of the crop in
April.
    Unica said ethanol exports increased 65% in September to 331
million liters, as mills take advantage of the weak currency to
boost foreign sales. 
    See below detailed figures from Unica's crop report (cane
and sugar in million tonnes, ethanol* in billion liters, total
recoverable sugar-TRS in kg per tonne):    
    
 BRAZIL'S CENTER-SOUTH - 2ND HALF OF SEPT. (ANNUAL COMPARISON)
                 2019/20  2020/21  % CHANGE
 CANE CRUSH      35.20    40.22     14.26
 SUGAR OUTPUT    1.79     2.86      59.57
 ETHANOL OUTPUT  2.23     2.16      -3.30
 TRS (kg/T)      157      161        2.58
 CANE TO SUGAR   34%      46%      
                    
 BRAZIL'S CENTER-SOUTH CUMULATIVE DATA - 2019/20 VS 2020/21
                 2019/20  2020/21  % CHANGE
 CANE CRUSH      474      499        5.30
 SUGAR OUTPUT    21.84    31.95     46.23
 ETHANOL OUTPUT  25.34    23.44     -7.47
 TRS (kg/T)      136      142        4.42
 CANE TO SUGAR   35%      46%      
 Source: Cane Industry Group Unica
 *Includes corn-based ethanol   

 (Reporting by Luciano Costa and Marcelo Teixeira
Editing by Chris Reese and Grant McCool)