Fiji’s biggest Sugar Mill the Lautoka Mill began its crushing season this morning.This follows the start of the crushing season in Labasa last week.
In its forecast the Fiji Sugar Cooperation says the tonnage of sugar cane to be crushed this year is expected to be around 2million.
The Lautoka Mill kick started its crushing season this morning. The Fiji Sugar Cooperation hierarchy, the farmers and lorry drivers representatives and the Lautoka Mill staff all witnessed the beginning of what is expected to be a better and healthier crushing season.
“Lautoka Mill will be crushing approximately five hundred to five hundred and three thousand tonnes of cane this year with the balance to be crushed at Rarawai which will open tomorrow. We’re on the bring of what I’d like to call the turn around time in our industry here in Fiji. From 1.4 million tonnes of cane last year we’re looking to 2 million tonnes this year and to grow forward from here,” said Graham Clarke, FSC CEO.
FSC says, the beginning of this crushing is the mark of a new partnership between them and the farmers as they will together plot a new direction for the industry.
“We are positioning FSC now as the promoter of sugar cane in Fiji. We know how to operate sugar factories we know how to sell sugar but we cannot do any of that without producing the sugar cane so our farmers are our most important asset and most important people in the industry. We have commenced a series of meeting with farmers in the entire cane belt, we completed Vanua levu last week and this week we’ll be visiting farmers in the cane belt here.”
With last year signaled out as one of the most challenging for the industry, the Fiji Sugar Cooperation is assuring its stakeholders of a bright future ahead. Encouraged by the strong bond the FSC is now undertaking to restore with farmers.
“So our new strategy is very important, we looking to lower the cost of growing cane and producing cane in Fiji. To make farming a better and viable life for our farmers, we looking to produce more sugar by making our factories more efficient and sell it in a much more efficient way so lower cost increased revenue will result in better returns for our farmers going forward.”
The FSC in making a sugar cane crushing forecast for this year says, Labasa will crush around 800 000 tonnes of cane while Lautoka and Ba will crush a total of 1.2 million tonnes. The Rarawai Mill in Ba will start its crushing season from tomorrow.