DJ Australia 2009-10 Raw Sugar Output May Fall 6.4% To 4.4M Tons
1:26 AM, February 25, 2009

CANBERRA (Dow Jones)–Raw sugar production in Australia next fiscal year
could fall 6.4% to around 4.4 million metric tons from 4.7 million tons this
year ending June 30, lobby Canegrowers Chief Executive Ian Ballantyne told an
industry briefing Wednesday.

The sweetener will be produced from a sugar cane crop estimated to contract
to 31 million tons next year in Queensland and northern New South Wales from
more than 33 million tons this year, he said. Most of the crop is crushed
August through October.

The expected contraction in the crush reflects the impact of flood damage in
northern Queensland, he said.

With several months of continued rain likely ahead, it would be premature to
be definitive about the impact of the floods, so any estimates at this stage
are tentative, Ballantyne said through a spokeswoman.

“While the outlook has been damped by the flood and it would have a dramatic
influence over the production and profitability of individual growers, overall
what we will see (broadly) is a smaller, more compact, resilient industry with
a more positive outlook in the short term,” he added.

According to figures supplied by Queensland Sugar Ltd., which markets most of
the crop under voluntary collective arrangements, in a year with a production
of 4.5 million tons, Australian demand will account for 20%, New Zealand 5.5%,
North America 4.5% and east Asia 70%.

The government’s chief commodities forecaster, the Australian Bureau of
Agricultural and Resource Economics, is scheduled to update its sugar
production and export forecasts next Tuesday.

-By Ray Brindal, Dow Jones Newswires; 612-6208-0902; ray.brindal@dowjones.com