Labasa and Lautoka sugar mills expected to crush 100,000 tonnes of cane in the next few days

The Labasa and Lautoka Sugar Mills have collectively crushed 70,000 tonnes of cane and this should increase to 100,000 tonnes in the next few days.

This is according to Fiji Sugar Corporation’s CEO Graham Clark who says the mills are quickly settling to steady crushing patterns and starting to reach budget targets.

He adds that Lautoka Mill’s diffuser plant is averaging an extraction rate of 97%, up by 2 points from last year.

Clark says cane supply is steadily improving but the mills are still running out of cane around 4am to 5am each day and cane supply improves again from around 7am.

He adds cane maturity is much better.

Meanwhile, FSC has distributed the first eleven of its new 6‑wheeler trucks to Labasa however, according to Clark the industry still faces a shortage of lorries.

Clark says they are hearing that drivers are wanting higher rates and lorry availability seems to be an issue.

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