The Fiji Sugar Corporation has crushed nearly 150,000 tones of cane at its Lautoka and Labasa mills, with mechanical stops to date lowering by 40 percent than last year.
FSC Chief Executive Officer, Graham Clark said their sugar recovery results were also improving steadily.
“Our investment is new and improved equipment is starting to show results,” he noted.
The FSC’s Rarawai Mill began its crushing season yesterday after an extensive $9.3 million off-season refurbishment to its boiler.
“We thank the growers in the Rarawai and Penang areas for their patience during this refurbishment phase. Most growers have taken the advantage of Lautoka Mill commencing early and delivered their cane to Lautoka,” Mr Clark said.
He reiterated FSC’s gratitude to the Fijian Government for its continuous transportation assistance, noting that it has cushioned transportation costs from Rarawai and Penang (in Rakiraki) to Rarawai and Lautoka.
“The new lorry load restrictions for cane cartage are now in full force. I would like to thank all farmers and lorry operators for their perseverance in adjusting to these new limits. Thanks also to the Land Transport Authority for granting a transition period for this to take place. We continue to work together to limit damage to our roads and bridges.”
FSC have also recently added a hundred new 6-wheeler lorries to boost cane transportation, with the first 11 of these trucks deployed to Labasa. The full fleet will be deployed by next month.