Mexico sugar growers halt cane deliveries

Mexican sugar growers said they plan to stop deliveries of cane to the country's 57 mills indefinitely from Friday in a dispute over prices, halting the 2007/2008 harvest. In a statement, growers complained mill owners were offering a price for cane that is 12 percent lower than last year.
"The decision was taken because of the lack of interest (to negotiate) on the part of the mill owners, who want to reduce the price of cane by 12 percent," said Carlos Blackaller, president of Mexico's National Sugar Cane Union.
Growers and mills have been negotiating for weeks but talks broke down this week, the union said. The 2007-2008 sugar harvest started at the end of October and growers had handed over 525,000 tonnes of cane to 12 mills before Friday's decision, the union said.