Cuba says hurricanes took 9pc of sugar crop

Cuba says hurricanes took 9pc of sugar crop
(11-11 23:53)

Hurricanes Ike and Gustav destroyed 9 percent of Cuba's sugar crop
scheduled for harvesting in the coming months, while damage from Paloma
was being evaluated, a high ranking sugar ministry official said.

Cuba had planned for raw sugar output to increase 20 percent to 30
percent over the 1.5 million tonnes produced during the previous
December to June season.

Cuba harvested 330,000 hectares of cane during the 2007-2008 harvest.

There are 700,000 hectares devoted to sugar cane in the country.

Cuba consumes a minimum 700,000 tonnes of sugar per year, and 400,000
tonnes are destined for China

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