Sugar output up 16 per cent

SUGAR produced locally increased by 16 per cent when compared with last year.

However, the Fiji Sugar Cooperation’s three mills only managed to crush just over 1.6 million tonnes of cane, instead of its 2 million tonne target.

In a statement, the FSC said 1,638,954 tonnes of cane was crushed producing 155,812 tonnes of sugar.

“The FSC lorries were fully utilised in to assist with harvesting and transportation of cane to the mills.” It said 99,101 tonnes of cane from Rarawai sectors were transferred to Lautoka mill.

FSC stated there were fewer mechanical malfunctions in 2022.

It exported 119,795 metric tonnes (mt) of sugar in four shipments in 2022 season.

“The final 25,000 tonnes of sugar is expected to be shipped by late December/early January. Similarly, 69,480mt of molasses has been exported through two shipments.

“The burnt cane percentages this season has increased by 16 per cent in comparison to last year.”

FSC said this increased their costs because more chemicals were used to process burnt cane.

Last year, the FSC crushed 1.81 million tonnes of cane from an area of 37,643 hectares compared to 1.70 million tonnes from 37,105 hectares in 2020. It produced 168,703 tonnes of sugar in 2021 and 160,204 tonnes in 2020.

Total export was 154,411 tonnes in 2021 compared with 111,844 tonnes in 2020.

Milling efficiency measured by how many tonnes of cane it took to produce one tonne of sugar (Tonnes Cane to Tonne Sugar or TCTS) was 10.7 in 2021 and 10.6 in 2020.