Brazil predicts record production of sugarcane this year

BRASILIA, Sept 6 (AFP) Brazil's government said yesterday it predicts a record production of sugarcane this year -- 559 million tons, an 11 per cent increase over last year's crop. brThe bulk of the harvest will go to supporting the country's huge biofuel industry, supplying it with 318 million tons. The rest will go to making sugar. brBrazil is the biggest exporter of ethanol in the world and the second biggest producer, after the United States, which makes the biofuel from corn. brOne in four cars in Brazil currently can run on ethanol, and that proportion is to grow to one in two by 2013, the automobile makers association Anfavea says.