The Fiji Sugar Corporation has paid an additional $20 per tonne so far to cane growers to make up for the $85 guaranteed price for cane for the 2018 season.

It was announced in the 2018/2019 National Budget that the government will be setting up a stabilisation price, funded in partnership with the FSC of $85 per tonne for all cane payments for the next three years.

The FSC says it is responsible for the guaranteed price for 2018 crop while the government will be responsible for the 2019 and 2020 crop.

The FSC says that it is creating a Stabilization Fund from the sale of surplus unproductive assets, from which contributions to the guaranteed price are being paid for the 2018 crop.

The Fiji Sugar Corporation had earlier said that the forecast cane price for this year is $53.69 per tonne compared to $66.08 forecast for last year.

The reduction is largely driven by lower global sugar pricing.

It says that the world sugar price has experienced extreme volatility in the last 12 months and year on year has dropped by nearly 20 percent due to large production surpluses that have arisen in major sugar producing nations such as India, Thailand and Brazil.

When questioned on what the FSC is doing to see that sugarcane production and sugar output increases significantly, the FSC says they are focusing on cane planting and replanting and factory efficiency upgrades.

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