THE Australian sugar industry has increased in value by a $100 million in four years, according to peak sugarcane grower group Canegrowers.
The sugarcane harvest is about 80pc complete, and sugarcane hubs from Mossman to Grafton are now on the home straight, vying to bring their crop in before the wet sets in for another year.
The first harvesters to wind down have been in the Mossman and Innisfail areas this week.
BATON ROUGE — Orange rust, a fungus that can cut sugar production by as much as half, has been identified in two Louisiana sugar-cane fields, LSU AgCenter scientists say.
Average losses to the disease are considerably less than 50 percent, and Louisiana's cooler winters may help it avoid the damage that Florida has seen since the fungus was first identified there in 2007, AgCenter plant pathologist Jeff Hoy said Monday.
The possibility of an El Nino, a warming of the Pacific Ocean that causes rains in sugar growing areas in Brazil and dry weather in India, may erode a global sugar surplus, according to Copersucar SA, a producer in Brazil.
Sugar shipments from Australia, the third-biggest exporter, may climb to the highest in three years as better yields boost production, swelling global supplies.
Exports may total 3.35 million metric tons in the year starting July 1, up 13 percent from the 2.96 million tons estimated in March, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences said today. That would be the highest since the year ended June 30, 2010, according to bureau data. Raw sugar production may be 4.4 million tons from 4.25 million tons forecast in March, the Canberra-based bureau said.
TABLELAND cane growers are praying for finer weather today and tomorrow so they can kick off what is being touted as a $2.1 billion harvest for the industry Australia-wide.
Growers on the Tableland were scheduled to be the first region to start crushing cane today, but last week’s rainfall has delayed the harvest until at least tomorrow.
Queensland Sugar Limited (QSL) says wet weather has delayed the reconstruction of the Lucinda bulk sugar terminal in the state's north, which was damaged by Cyclone Yasi 15 months ago.
The 5.5 kilometre terminal north of Townsville, is the longest service jetty in the Southern Hemisphere but was extensively damaged during the cyclone.
BOISDALE — Paul MacKenzie of Highland Gold Maple Products is hitting the road with a mini version of his sugar shack.
“I’ve been a regular at the pancake breakfast at the Boisdale fire hall for about five years,” said MacKenzie, a science teacher at Memorial High School in Sydney Mines. “They always get good crowds, and last year I noticed a lot of people outside the hall waiting to get in. That’s when the idea of an active display hit me, it would give these people something to do.”
CAMPBELL Newman has pledged $4.6 million for research and development in Queensland's sugar industry, as part of his plan to double agricultural production within a generation.
But the Liberal National leader, who attacked federal Labor over its ongoing "knife fight", continued to dodge questions about who would lead his party should he fail to secure the Labor-held seat of Brisbane.
The move to majority foreign ownership of the Australian sugar milling industry isn't contrary to the national interest, a senior official of the Department of Agriculture said Friday, just as Thailand's Mitr Phol Sugar Corp. nears completion of its takeover of MSF Sugar Ltd.
With quality Australian sugar industry assets attracting keen interest from overseas investors, lobby group Canegrowers said Wednesday the nation’s second largest sugar milling company Mackay Sugar could become a target as could foreign-owned Bundaberg Sugar.
TWEED'S $30 million sugar cane industry will make a roaring comeback in 2012, with the region's leading farmers predicting their highest-quality crop in almost a decade.
The past 12 months have been difficult for cane farmers across the Tweed, with constant soaking rain compounding flood damage to crops from the year before.
A new global network hopes to create connections and build stronger bonds across the sugar cane industry in an attempt to close the innovation gap.
Until now Bonsucro has worked towards developing sustainability standards for the industry but its new Global Producer Innovation Network (GPIN) will become the action arm of the group.
Bonsucro chairman Kevin Ogorzalek says the network will create a forum for farmers and millers to learn from each other to solve common problems.
The sugar industry is watching closely what the outcome of the Sucrogen vote today will be on the sale of the Proserpine Sugar Mill in north Queensland.
Singapore-owned Sucrogen has offered $115 million for the co-operative and says that, if it's a no vote, it will walk away, allowing Chinese-owned Tully Sugar to step in with its $120 million offer.
Expectations for Australian sugar production remain widely spread even heading towards the cane harvest's dying days, as analysts struggle to get a handle on the hangover from a wet summer, which culminated in Cyclone Yasi.
Queensland's sugar marketing body has announced the resignation of its chief executive, but says people should not lose confidence in the group.
Chairman Allan Winney announced Neil Taylor will retire from Queensland Sugar Limited next month to a role outside the sugar industry.
Australia could be the key to helping China maximise its sugar production to meet the country's growing sugar needs.
A Chinese delegation of senior agronomists and research scientists from the Guangxi Province are touring Queensland and northern NSW to gain a better understanding of how the sugar industry here operates both structurally and scientifically.
The Federal Government's proposed carbon tax was the subject of a Senate inquiry hearing today in Mackay in northern Queensland.
The Select Committee on the Scrutiny of New Taxes, chaired by Western Australian Senator Mathias Cormann, heard evidence from eight industry groups and businesses that a carbon tax will have a detrimental affect on them.
* Harvest weather conditions near perfect
* Sugar content expected to pick as new cane is crushed
* Left over cane from 2010 poor quality
SYDNEY, July 27 (Reuters) - Australia's 2011 sugar crush is starting to gather pace with nearly a quarter of the crop now harvested, industry officials said on Wednesday.
Bicycle squads at the Bundaberg strike camp were used to seek out non-unionised workers. (State Library of QLD. #19525)
100 years ago, the sugar industry was almost brought to its knees by its biggest strike, bringing large reforms.
Wilmar International Limited wishes to announce that its Australian-based sugar subsidiary, Sucrogen, has entered into an agreement with Proserpine Co-operative Sugar Milling Association Limited (PCSMA) to purchase the business assets of PCSMA, on a debt-free and cash-free basis, for A$115 million.
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