Far North Queensland’s cane crush is nearing completion, with two of the region’s five mills wrapping up for the 2016 season.
Mossman Mill finished crushing 897,000 tonnes of cane on 18 November, with the MSF-owned Tableland Mill at Arriga wrapping up operations on 22 November.
Mossman Mill general manager Haydn Slattery said the mill experienced a “very wet year”, with CCS down on average.
“The plant performed well,” he said.
Tableland Mill factory manager Pat Ryan said the 2016 crush was one of the best on record.
“We had a great year,” Mr Ryan said. “The factory performance was excellent; one of the better seasons we’ve had.”
The mill crushed 819,152 tonnes, three per cent above early season crop estimates.
Mr Ryan said CCS was down on last year, which could be attributed to early wet weather at the beginning of the year and rain that kept the cane growing during the season
MSF’s other mills at South Johnstone and Gordonvale are still crushing, and hope to be completed by the end of the year.
Mulgrave Mill at Gordonvale has crushed 1,423,203 million tonnes to date, and is expected to finish on the 19 December. It’s highest CCS sample for the season is 16.09
The South Johnstone Mill is not far behind with 1,558,503 million tonnes of cane crushed to date. It’s highest CCS sample for the season sits at 15.75.
It is targeting completion on 22 December.
Tully Mill is on track to complete its 2016 crush at the end of December.
“We have just hit 2.6 million tonnes crushed and are on our way to 2.9 million tonnes; at the moment we estimate that will take us up to December 31,” mill manager Barry Dun said.
“If it doesn’t rain and we don’t get too many disruptions we will stay on schedule.
“We had a similar case last year and finished on January 4.”
Mr Dun said the dry conditions had mixed results for the mill’s cane.
“Sugar content is above season average but that’s because the cane is drying out,” Mr Dun said. “We had estimated above three million tonnes for the season but now we will be below that because of the drier weather conditions.
“The dry weather allows for our harvester operators to be out but it is drying out the cane.”
Mr Dun said sugar content was up, but the purity of the juice was down which resulted in the production of more molasses. Mr Dun said the mill exported two thirds of its molasses, with the remainder sold to graziers. However, demand was down due to cattle producers destocking.