Australia sugar-cane harvest 50pct complete amid rain

Sugar harvesting in Australia, the third-largest exporter, is about half completed and behind schedule as wet weather delays cutting, according to Canegrowers. “We could have some issues, but as yet we don’t,” Steve Greenwood, chief executive officer of the Brisbane-based producers group, said today by phone. “It just means the season will be extended well into December.” The harvest, typically finished in November, is normally about 60 per cent complete by this time, according to the group.

Raw sugar in New York rallied to a six-month high last week amid concerns that dry weather in Brazil will reduce production as coastal rains and port congestion delay the country’s shipments. A La Nina weather pattern that has developed in the Pacific may extend the dryness in Brazil through November, the government crop-forecasting agency Conab said. Raw sugar for October delivery closed up 1.3 percent to 22.73 cents a pound on ICE Futures US in New York on September 10. Earlier the futures touched 23.3 cents, the highest level since March 1.