The Australian sugar cane industry is one of the largest industries in Australia and continues to grow today. It is the third largest raw sugar supplier after Brazil and India despite sugar being produced in over one hundred countries. It is also the seventh largest agricultural exporter in Australia. It is the second largest export crop after wheat and the fourth major export earning agricultural product. Its value of production is worth 1.5-2.5 billion dollars, which indicates its particularly heavy weighting in the Australian agricultural industry over, which was worth $8.7 billion dollars in 2008. In Australia, it uses twenty four sugar mills, which employs approximately one hundred and fifty people for every season. It is estimated that around six thousand and three hundred farmers and families own sugar cane farms. An average sugar cane farm is thirty to one hundred and twenty hectares but can be larger than a massive one thousand hectares. The industry is focussed on its international competitiveness because most of the sugar, around 80 per cent, is exported to other countries. Due to this competitiveness, the Australian sugar cane industry has been adopting innovative practices, especially by using machinery when harvesting and planting, practising new farming techniques and growing a diverse range of sugar canes and zeroing in on the sweetest and most yielding crop.
In Australia, thirty two to thirty five million tonnes of sugar cane are being harvested yearly, resulting in 4.5 to 5 tonnes of raw sugar being processed. Four thousand sugar cane farm businesses are involved in the sugar cane industry and 6 bulk storage ports are also in place to support the sugar cane industry and the exports of raw sugar to other countries. Every day, ten thousand tonnes of sugar is processed in Australian sugar mills.
Sugar is used for various reasons. It is used to sweeten beverages and confectionery, bring out the tastes of canned