SUGAR PRICE DROP LEAVES SOUR TASTE FOR FAR NORTH GROWERS

TOUGH times are ahead for Far North canegrowers as a 10year sugar price low eats into the market.

Raw sugar prices dropped to 10.12 US cents/lbs on Friday, pushing it dangerously close to levels not seen since 2006-2008.

Cairns canegrower Mark Savina said growers would have to be frugal going forward to keep costs down.

“They’ve just got to reduce their input costs.

“That’s what it’s all about, watch what you spend, cut your fertiliser rates and don’t spend if you don’t have to,” he said.

“The trouble with cane is it’s a full year crop. Once you plant it you have to go full.

“Not many growers have the luxury of being able to go into other crops.”

This season has had flooding in the Far North in March, followed by a long dry season.

Mr Savina said this added an extra disadvantage to Far North farmers.

“You can’t control the yield or predict the weather,” he said.

“Your production might come down but it’s cheaper to do cane planting compared to another crop.” Queensland Sugar Treasury Manager Ginette Barrett said production surpluses in India and Thailand, the second and fourth largest sugar producers respectively caused the slump.

“There’s a lot of pressure on sugar prices right now, holding it above the 10-cent level,” she said.

Ms Barrett said the situation was not likely to improve until at least the 2020 season.

“Next year is likely to be tough.

“At the end of that, we’ll see how the market moves, if surplus producing countries move on to other commodities,” she said.

“Growers will have to ride it out and make sure they’re covering the cost of production to get to the other end of the surplus.”

GROWERS WILL HAVE TO RIDE IT OUT AND MAKE SURE THEY’RE COVERING THE COST OF PRODUCTION

QUEENSLAND SUGAR TREASURY MANAGER GINETTE BARRETT