Low crush at the sugar mills

[posted 20 Oct 2011,11.30]

The four mills crushed a total of 61,106 tonnes of cane in the week ending 17 October - a very poor overall performance hampered by mill stoppages and poor cane supply on account of the wet weather.

The Lautoka and Rarawai Mills averaged around 13,000 tonnes, while Labasa and Penang crushed 25,000 and 9700 tonnes, respectively.

The Lautoka Mill was out for 113 hours (4.7 days) during the week. Stoppages due to inadequate cane supply totalled 73.5 hours; a further 40.5 hours were lost due to processing problems (high juice level), systems choke and no hog fuel.

Mechanical problems were also encountered at all the other three mills resulting in the poor crush figures for the week.

The season to date crush stood at 1.4 million tonnes. FSC does not release sugar make figures thereby concealing the TCTS. Industry sources advise that TCTS is now worsening from an average of 13.5 due to the onset of the hot weather and wet weather.

NFU is concerned that unless there is marked improvement in the performance of the mills, the 2011 season may yet be another disappointment for the farmers and the industry as a whole.

S. Lal