Forecast for Aussie cane down

26 July 2000



Forecast for Aussie cane down

WEATHER and disease have hit the Australian sugar cane harvest, reports the Financial Times.

Queensland Sugar, which late last year expected the crop to be close to 5.5m tonnes, now says farmers will struggle to get 4.5m tonnes.

Floods and cyclones in the north of Queensland and drought and orange rust disease in the south have reduced yields and sugar content.

And the summer rice crop in Vietnam could be badly hit by heavy rains, reports the FT .

Flooding in the Mekong Delta in the past week have destroyed up to 20% of the crop, say local reports.

Vietnam is the worlds second biggest rice exporter, although the summer crop is usually for domestic use.