"The rain since Saturday slowed down beet harvesting, and with more rain forecast this week some plants may face supply problems," an analyst from the CGB beet planters federation told Reuters.

The harvest got under way last week in most regions amid dry and mild weather. But weekend rain disrupted beet lifting operations as farmers could not get into the fields.

"By September 30 last year some 10.6 per cent of the crop had been lifted from the ground but at this stage we must be slightly behind that figure," the analyst said.

Data from a planters' survey up to September 30, and due for release next week, should provide a clearer picture of progress, he said.

The delay would give beets still in the ground more time to grow, but wet weather would further reduce sugar content, he said.

Data from thefourth beet test by sugar manufacturers showed substantial rain in the first two weeks of September helped beet development but cut sugar content to 16.67 per cent.

That was below 16.80 per cent in the fourth test for 1997 and the five-year average of 17.23 per cent.

Most industry analysts expect the final 1998/99 sugar yield to decline to 10.6 tonnes per hectare from a record 11.29 tonnes last year.

That would reduce beet sugar production to around 4.4 million tonnes from 4.752 million last year.