Sugar Mills continue to grossly under perform

[posted 28 July 2009, 1630]

Two of Fiji’s largest sugar mills, Lautoka and Rarawai, continue to grossly under-perform as FSC struggles to meet its first ship load of sugar to the United Kingdom this season.

FSC is now refusing to divulge figures on sugar production, even to the Growers Council. This is obviously to hide the huge loss being suffered by farmers as a result of poor TCTS and milling inefficiencies. The truth about the 2009 crush is therefore not getting through to the public at large.

There is a gag on media coverage regarding FSC and mill performance. Statements made to the media are not being published/broadcast. The media is under instructions to get a response from FSC or the Sugar Ministry to all statements issued by industry stakeholders. They, of course, give their own inflated propaganda – in a bid to hoodwink the public.

However, farmers are aware of the disgraceful state of affairs. A few from the Lautoka mill area, angry and frustrated with the persistent problems at the mill, have even gone direct to the interim Prime Minister with their frustrations.

The Lautoka Mill is crushing at 61 percent capacity and Rarawai at a pathetic 39%, according to crush figures for the week ended Monday 27 July.

Both mills continue to run on a stop-start basis. Lautoka mill went out of action on Monday (27th) and is not expected to be back in operation until Thursday 30 July. The Rarawai Mill is currently rolling but has been plagued with a recurring boiler problem.

Figures for the week-ending 27 July show that Lautoka Mill crushed 24,795 tonnes of cane against a crushing capacity of 42,000 tonnes (61%). To date it has crushed a total of 90,189 tonnes for the season.

Rarawai Mill crushed 16,584 tonnes for the week against a capacity of 40,000 tonnes (39%). Total for the season is 24,233.

The Labasa and Penang Mills are now running satisfactorily. Labasa crushed 36,187 tonnes of cane over the week – operating at 86% capacity. It has crushed 178,461 tonnes for the season.

Penang has crushed 13,860 tonnes this week and a total of 89,740 tonnes for the season to date.

As a result of the pathetic state of its two largest mills, FSC is expected to ship only 27,500 tonnes of sugar in its first shipment instead of the targeted 30,000 tonnes – a shortfall of 2500 tonnes sugar. The boat is currently loading at Labasa and will be at Lautoka in the next couple of days.

Meanwhile, FSC’s chairman and CEO accompanied by one of the consultants are still on their overseas junket giving credence to the proverbial adage: Nero fiddles while Rome burns!