Australian sugarcane industry suffers huge loss by heavy rains
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About 800 million AU dollars (801 million U.S. dollars) in profit from sugarcane crops has been washed away by torrential downpours along Australia's eastern seacoast in 2010, sugar producers said on Thursday.
Australia's sugarcane industry group Canegrowers said growers started the year as world prices rose to their highest level in 30 years, but heavy rains on the eastern seaboard washed away hopes of a record season.
The group said the extraordinary downpours made the sugar content in the cane low, making it less profitable to mill.
Boggy fields meant harvesting machinery could not be used, leaving up to 18 percent of the crop unharvested, Canegrowers said.
The group said wet paddocks left growers unable to replant next season's quota, adding to other problems that would also see lower profits in 2011.
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