AUSTRALIA: 2010/11 sugar production seen up 15%
Published: 03/17/2010, 7:48:13 AM
Australian sugarcane production could rise 15% in the next crop year, as growers respond to relatively high global prices for the sweetener, according to Dow Jones.
Indeed, planting of sugar cane worldwide will jump, and Australian growers are following the trend, said Canegrowers Chief Executive Ian Ballantyne.
"On the back of a short, dry season in 2009, and with access to forward pricing mechanisms which are enabling them to lock in the still more attractive prices on offer, continuation of reasonable conditions, Australian cane production could well increase by as much as 15%" in the crop year that begins July 1, he said in a statement, without citing specific output data.
Ballantyne said the ability of Australian cane farmers to grow more will be contained to some degree in coming seasons by the limited available land.
He is about to undertake a series of briefings for various industry stakeholders, with the first scheduled for banking and commercial business partners in Brisbane on Thursday.
He will focus on the continued strength and resilience of the industry and explain that despite the global sugar price falling sharply since early February, grower confidence and optimism remains high, not just for the coming harvest, which starts in June, but for several years, he said.