Fires in Brazil cane fields controlled, damage to sugar crop being assessed

By Roberto Samora and Marcelo Teixeira

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Sao Paulo said there were no more active fires in sugarcane fields in the state on Monday following a surge in cases since late last week, but dozens of municipalities are still on high alert for fires.

Sao Paulo is by far the largest sugar producing state in Brazil, the world's top producer and exporter of the sweetener. Extremely dry conditions after months without rain led to a surge in accidental fires that quickly spread to thousands of hectares of cane fields that burned into the weekend.

Brazil's largest sugar group Raizen SA said on Monday it resumed operations at its Santa Elisa mill on Sunday. The plant had to be evacuated and shut on Thursday due to the proximity of the fires.

Brazil's sugar and ethanol industry group UNICA said it will start to make an assessment of the situation in the fields in the coming days. The group said its associated mills worked with the Sao Paulo government in recent days to combat the flames.

Sugar prices jumped more than 3% in New York on Monday following the Brazil fires.

The burned sugarcane could still be harvested and processed, said Caio Carvalho, a sugar expert with Canaplan consultancy, but he added that mills will need to rush to do it soon because the cane starts losing quality after just a couple of days following the burning.

Citi analysts said the drought and the fires will likely have a negative impact, as well in the next crop in 2025, since some burned fields had cane that was already growing for the next season.

The Sao Paulo government said that 48 municipalities in the state were still under high alert for fires.

Some areas in the southern part of the state received light rains over the weekend, but the forecast is for dry weather in coming days.

(Reporting by Roberto Samora in Sao Paulo and Marcelo Teixeira in New York; Editing by Aurora Ellis)