FSC’s Lautoka Mill opening delayed

The opening of the crushing season for the Lautoka Sugar Mill which was to have been done today has been delayed.

Fiji Sugar Corporation chief executive officer Graham Clark said a technical issue had forced the delay. “Unfortunately we’ve had a technical issue at the Lautoka Mill that will see its opening delayed,” Mr Clark said.

“Our team is working around the clock to fix a boiler issue that occurred during our pre-opening tests and we’ll be able to announce a firmer opening date for the Lautoka Mill soon.”

In the meantime Mr Clark reminded the general public to be mindful of the increased traffic on the roads and railways as cane haulage begins.

“The public’s safety is paramount and I urge all pedestrians and motorists to please be cautions of the cane trucks and trains as the sugar cane crushing season comes into full effect in the Western Division,” Mr Clark said.

Some sugar cane harvested for the Lautoka Mill were seen being transported to the Rarawai Mill in Ba which opened its crushing season yesterday.

Labasa Mill

The Labasa mill has settled well within two weeks and has crushed 26,748 tonnes of cane, producing a total of 1,766 tonnes of sugar and 370 tonnes of molasses as of 8am on Monday, June 22.

Permanent Secretary for Sugar Yogesh Karan said up until Monday, there has been no inside stops and the mill recorded an average of 12.3 TCTS in week. However in the 24 hours up until yesterday, the TCTS had dropped to 10.0.

“FSC expects to reduce this further below 10 in coming days and I thank everyone that is involved in the process,” Mr Karan said.

“The mill’s achievement is 25 percent lower than the budget because I have been informed that only 55 per cent of gangs have started harvesting.”

He said the momentum at the mill would pickup from this week.