MORE THAN 1.3 MILLION TONNES OF CANE CRUSHED SO FAR Lautoka Mill Rarawai Mill

As of Monday October 19, 2020, the volume of cane crushed by the three Fiji Sugar Corporation mills reached 1,334,570 tonnes.

Despite the continued heavy rains received during the past week, the cumulative crush to date was four per cent higher than for the equivalent period in 2019, and compares to a tonnage of 1,287,751 tonnes crushed in the same period in 2019.

Recoveries

Sugar recoveries measured by the cumulative tonnes cane to sugar ratio (TCTS) remains at 11.2, still impacted by ongoing low cane purity, which to date is the lowest in three years.

Cane purity has been adversely affected by weather, high extraneous matter in billet cane and continuing high levels of burnt cane deliveries compared to 2019.

The final bulk sugar export for 2020 will commence loading in Lautoka on October 24, 2020, after which the cargo of 30,000 tonnes of bulk raw sugar destined for the United Kingdom will be completed in Labasa.

Rain continued from last week depressing the crushing rate mid week and completely halting Mill operations over the weekend.

A total of 74 hours of rain stops were recorded, while inside stops were 11 hours.

During the week, issues were encountered with the mill air compressors, diffuser drives, dewatering mills and chokes on the bagasse conveyors.

As a result of the stop-start nature of operations, cane throughput was 19,652 tonnes. The total sugar make for the week was 1789 tonnes.

Both were lower than target for the week, however, the TCTS of 11.0 units was in line with expectation, which indicated efforts were in place to maximise sugar recovery despite the fact that per cent burnt cane received was 90.7 per cent.

Rarawai mill operations were also affected by rain throughout the week, and came to a complete stand still over the weekend.

A total of 67 hours of rain stops were recorded, while inside stops were 12 hours for the week, due to issues in the crushing, feeding and evaporator stations.

As a result of the stop start nature of operations, both cane crushed of 20,976 and the sugar make of 1780 tonnes were lower than the target for the week.

Purities in the past week were reduced, due to inferior cane quality and the rain effect.

Labasa Mill

Labasa mill crushed 19,032 tonnes of cane and produced 1813 tonnes of sugar with a TCTS ratio of 10.5 units for the week.

Labasa has been impacted by continuous rain for four weeks, which has disrupted operations and caused a shortfall in crush and sugar make.

The rain stops for the week were 86 hours. Inside stops were only 0.5 hours.

Labasa mill has lost 273 hours of operation, because of rain in the past four weeks.

The operational disruption caused by the rain is negatively impacting the mill crushing programme.

It is likely to extend crushing for the season by approximately one week..

Source: Fiji Sugar Corporation