Big crush for mill

AMID the chaos of a global pandemic a Far North community’s lifeblood industry is producing one of its most efficient crushes in years.

The Mossman Mill has been largely unaffected by the coronavirus calamity and the subsequent border shutdowns crippling the Port Douglas and Daintree tourism sectors.

Far Northern Milling Mossman general manager Peter Dibella said close to 345,000 tonnes of sugar cane had been crushed, with almost two months left in the season, and expected that number to balloon past 700,000.

And, critically, the small mill has been able to maintain full employment, which generates up to 1000 jobs across the Douglas Shire.

“A lot of people think it’s just a small country mill, but it is big business,” Mr Dibella said.

“It’s about $70 million a year that comes into the local economy. As everyone knows, this area has been decimated by the current situation but we haven’t missed a beat.

“Looking at the factory, the farmers and all the people that hang off that, the industry accounts for a huge amount of employees that rely on this business.”

Mr Dibella said they had lost very little cutting time due to the dry weather across July and August, the latter recording just 4mm for the month, and he expected a big return if the rain continued to hold off.

“After a rough start the factory is running very well now and is very efficient,” he said.

“We’ve spent a bit of money on it and given it some TLC and the results are showing. We understand the mill is the fabric of the community so our results so far is good news for the area.”