Sweet smell of success for sugarcane growers
NORTH Queensland is shaping up for a bumper sugarcane harvest that, combined with strong global sugar prices, is welcome news for growers and the regional economy.
Wilmar Sugar Australia said on Friday that total crop estimates for its eight mills this year were 15.28 million tonnes, up on 2021’s 14.6mt.
Leading the charge is Herbert River with a projected total of 4.4mt, 600,000t up on last year’s throughput of 3.8mt.
“It’s a good-sized crop due
to the favourable growing conditions over the past few months,” Wilmar general manager of cane supply and grower relations Paul Giordani said.
“The recent rain events could see the crop grow on, so we might end up with a crop that exceeds the current 4.4mt estimate.”
Mr Giordani said this week’s rain was likely to delay the start of the 2022 crush, with the company continuing to consult with grower representatives about the optimal time to begin harvesting.
“The Australian sugar industry benefited from a recovery in world sugar prices last year,” he said.
“We’ve been seeing prices in the mid to high $500s so far this year, which bodes well for the 2022 season.”
Herbert regional operations manager Adam Douglas said Wilmar was spending $200m on capital and maintenance across its eight mills.
“It’s a significantly larger spend than previous years, as we focus on replacing some of our ageing assets.”
He said that in the Herbert region, Wilmar Sugar was investing more than $58m in capital and maintenance at Victoria and Macknade mills.
“Major capital projects include a new $5m pan vessel at Macknade Mill, fabricated and installed in-house,” he said.
“We’re also completing a $1.9m upgrade to the wet scrubbers on Victoria Mill’s No.10 boiler.”
Mr Douglas said the wet scrubbers were used to remove particulate from flue gases, to meet stringent environmental compliance standards.
“In the process of cleaning the flue gas, water is evaporated, creating the iconic white plume you see from the sugar mill stacks.”
Mr Giordani reminded locals and visitors about cane train safety.
“We kicked off our loco driver training program early this year, in response to the number of new drivers and drivers’ assistants working in the Herbert region.
“That means our locos are already on the move.
“Locos are travelling across the region with empty bins to familiarise themselves with the cane rail network and local cane sidings.”