Crushing at the Rarawai mill in Ba. Picture: BALJEET SINGH/FT FILE
The Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) has reported it is crushing 10.1 tonnes of cane to produce one tonne of sugar for the season so far.
However, the miller said the quality of cane at the mill continued to be an issue with 90 per cent burnt cane in Viti Levu mills and 70 per cent in Labasa.
The company said the season’s tonnes cane to tonne sugar (TCTS) stood at 10.1 so far, compared with 10.5 in 2021 and 11.2 in 2020.
“FSC has finished its 15th week of crush and as of September 19, 2022, the three mills crushed 1,111,227 tonnes of cane, producing 109,554 tonnes of sugar,” read a statement from the miller.
“The quality of cane received at the three mills is seriously concerning, particularly the burnt cane ratios.
“In the past few weeks, the burnt cane percentages are as high as 90 per cent in the Viti Levu mills and averaging 70 per cent in Labasa.
“Combined with high extraneous matter in billet cane, these factors are putting undue constraints on the process team in terms of sugar extraction.
“The cost of operations is also inflated because of high chemical usage for processing of burnt cane.
“Cane supply to the mills and subsequently the cane quality needs to improve dramatically for FSC to have a strong finish to the 2022 season.”
Copyright © 2022 Fiji Times Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2022 Fiji Times Limited. All Rights Reserved.