China Region Sugar Output Rises

The southwest Chinese region of Guangxi increased its production of sugarcane by 26.8 pct to 9.4 mln tonnes in the 1986-87 crushing season (November to March) from the previous year, the New China News Agency said.

The cane, grown on 206,000 hectares, yielded 1.04 mln tonnes of refined sugar, it said without giving comparative figures.

China’s sugar output in calendar 1986 rose to 5.24 mln tonnes from 4.45 mln in calendar 1985, official figures show. An official newspaper said in January that output in the 1986/87 crushing season would be only 4.82 mln tonnes because of a drop in acreage due to low profits on growing cane and beet.