Cyberattack shuts down major Australian sugar mills, disrupting harvest

A cyberattack has disrupted sugar production in one of Australia's largest cane-growing regions, forcing two major sugar mills to shut down and bringing harvesting operations to a halt.

Mackay Sugar, Australia's second-largest sugar producer, said on Wednesday that it was responding to a cybersecurity incident affecting parts of its operations and had engaged cybersecurity experts and local authorities to investigate the attack and restore its systems safely.

The incident forced the shutdown of the company's Farleigh and Racecourse mills in Queensland's Mackay region, prompting growers to immediately stop harvesting sugarcane until further notice, according to local media reports.

Canegrowers Mackay, which represents local sugarcane farmers, said in a statement that Mackay Sugar instructed growers to cease harvesting early Wednesday morning.

"Mackay Sugar has asked for all harvesting to cease immediately and not resume until further communication comes directly from the company," the statement read.

The organization confirmed that sugar milling and cane haulage operations at both the Farleigh and Racecourse mills had been suspended. Both facilities had only recently begun the annual sugarcane crushing season. 

Growers in the Marian district were unaffected because the company's third mill is not scheduled to begin operations until next week, according to Australia's ABC News report.

Mackay Sugar said it had implemented temporary measures to keep essential operations running and minimize disruption while it works to restore affected systems. The company did not disclose the nature of the cyberattack, whether any data had been compromised or whether ransomware or another form of malicious activity was involved.

The company said it was communicating with employees, growers and business partners and would provide further updates as more information becomes available.

Mackay Sugar operates three mills and generates annual revenue of more than $420 million. The company supplies raw sugar to domestic customers and export markets including South Korea, Indonesia, Japan and Malaysia.