Gustav devastates some Jamaican sugar cane fields

KINGSTON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Hurricane Gustav devastated several sugar cane fields in eastern and southern Jamaica, likely causing a significant drop in revenues for the crop year that starts in December, an industry official said on Tuesday.

The industry is likely to lose J$300 million ($4.2 million) in the next crop year, Alan Rickards, chairman of the Cane Farmers Association, said in a radio interview.

"We are looking at not producing even as much sugar as we produced this year, which itself was below our target," Rickards told Radio Jamaica.

Jamaica earned about US$80 million from sugar exports for the last harvest, which ended in July, having fallen just short of the twice-reduced target of 160,000 tonnes of sugar.

Five of the eight factories that produce 88 percent of the Caribbean island's sugar for export will change ownership at the end of September.

Brazilian company Infinity Bio-Energy Inc. (IBI.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will take over the five state-run factories, leaving the jobs of 20,000 people in limbo. The company has said, however, that it intends to rehire most of the workers after the takeover.