IN SHORT: Australia's sugar cane harvest ends at near-record low

Australia's sugar cane harvest has ended with a crop of 27.9 million tonnes of cane, one of the worst on record, the Canegrowers trade group said on Wednesday. Next year's crop could show a slight improvement of between 31 million and 32 million tonnes of cane unless severe wet conditions curtailing production persist, it said.
The 2011 crop is only a slight improvement on the rain-devastated 2010 yield - the worst on record - of 27.5 million tonnes. "While actual planting data will not be known until March next year, indications from sugar cane areas across Australia suggests plantings may be up as much as 20 percent," Canegrowers said. It added that this year's plantings includes replacing cyclone, flood and smut-damaged ratoons.