A new section of the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) website launched on May 19, dedicated to providing data and frequently updated statistics on the industry, is the first step in a complete overhaul of the most visited source of information on the cane industry in Brazil. Available in English and Portuguese, the new section, called UnicaData, is a customizable tool aimed at providing essential industry information around the clock to market players, the media and the general audience.
Developed and tested during six months, UnicaData offers information collected by UNICA or compiled by the organization from numbers published by other institutions. The section includes reports on the sugarcane harvest, the quality of harvested cane, graphs and tables with harvest projections, specific numbers on sugarcane production and processing, planted area, as well as prices and quotes to producers and consumers. Domestic fuel consumption, exports and imports are also available on UnicaData, which can be accessed free of charge.
According to the manager of UNICA’s Economics Department, Luciano Rodrigues, more than 80 reports can be viewed or downloaded on UnicaData, which should meet most of the information requests received by UNICA from member companies, journalists, students and consultants, among others. “On this first stage, we added the most sought after data as indicated by web searches involving our industry. We will continue to analyse the demand and gradually enhance and expand the content,” he said.
The Economics and Statistics team will responsible for updating all content of UnicaData. Ease of access was a major concern throughout the development process, says UNICA’s Web Coordinator Paulo Zappa: “Navigation is intuitive and the information is divided by topics and sections. Several customized reports can be generated through filters and parameters determined by the user. The content can be simply viewed or downloaded in Excel spreadsheets or in PDF format.” Users can also subscribe to an e-mail notification service that announces new reports and data updates on UnicaData.
Corporate Communications Director Adhemar Altieri describes UnicaData as a step further in UNICA’s commitment to transparency, speed and precision in the information the organization provides, reinforcing the strategy adopted as a priority in recent years. “This is the first stage of a totally new website and we decided to start with data and statistics because of the global demand for reliable numbers about the sugarcane industry. UnicaData will also help simplify data collection, processing and dissemination from a single source. Users often don’t know where to go for certain types of data that originate in government or other private organizations, so this is our attempt to organize and provide the most relevant information,” he concluded.
In addition to the main website, ten other specific sites are managed by UNICA for audiences in Brazil and abroad. In 2011, the total viewership of all websites managed by the organization exceeded 740 thousand visits according to Google Analytics, a tool that generates detailed statistics about visits to a website. |
