The sugar cane harvest is finally under way across North Queensland despite wet weather hampering the start of the crush.
Wilmar has now fired up all eight of its mills, with the Burdekin region hitting the milestone of one million tonnes crushed late last week.
Cane supply and grower relations general manager Paul Giordani said the company expected to process 15.07 million tonnes of cane this season and manufacture 2.1 million tonnes of raw sugar.
Invicta Mill on the Burdekin was the first to kick off on June 10, with the four mills in the region having crushed 1,044,944 tonnes as of Saturday.
“Ground conditions are improving, but there are still some wet paddocks in the region and this is impacting cane supply,” Mr Giordani said.
“Factory reliability for start-ups has been good and we’re now focused on increasing crush rates.
“We’ve completed the first scheduled cleaning intermissions at all four Burdekin mills.”
The Herbert mills started on June 23, but ongoing wet weather also hampered harvesting operations and cane supply in the district last week. The Macknade Mill resumed crushing on Saturday and while the Herbert district did not get a full cane supply on Monday, millers were hoping it would dry out enough to achieve this on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Up to July 4, the two Herbert mills had crushed 201,781 tonnes of their forecast crop of 4.1 million tonnes.
The Plane Creek Mill also fired up on June 23 and in the second week of operations saw a steady rise in CCS to average 11.85. As of Friday, the mill had crushed 77,000 tonnes, or 6 per cent of their estimated 1.25 million tonnes.
“The process house is performing well but we are monitoring low bagasse levels,” Mr Giordani said. “The harvesting sector is struggling with wet field conditions, resulting in some cane supply gaps.”
The Proserpine Mill was the last to fire up just after midday last Wednesday, after wet weather delayed the season start by 24 hours. Throughput for the first week was 28,326 tonnes, with an average CCS of 12.12.
As Queensland cane farmers and mills grapple with low sugar prices, a North Queensland politician has renewed calls for the industry to diversify by manufacturing bioplastics.
Bioplastics are made from plant-based materials and are appealing as eco-friendly wrapping due to their ability to break down.
The Member for Mackay, Labor’s Julieanne Gilbert, said cane-farming regions were well placed to pioneer the industry.
“We have got an abundance of resources right here in Mackay,” she said.
“We’ve got feedstock we can use from our sugarcane crops, we’ve got plenty of water, we’ve got power, we’ve got land … and highly skilled people.”
Single-use plastics are a major contributor to landfill, and biodegradable plastic would help solve that problem.(ABC RN: Fiona Pepper)
But Canegrowers Mackay chairman Kevin Borg said Australia did not have the right commercial or political environment to make the venture viable.
“Viability is the main word in this because at the end of the day we need government policy behind these things for it to take off,” he said.
Support needed
Mr Borg said there needed to be government support, through policy and funding, to make the venture realistic.
“People have to make a quid off it,” he said.
“If the government could come in with some policy to support these things, then I have no doubt growers would want to be a part of it … we’re all ears.”
Mr Borg said there needed to be more research and discussion about what part of the cane contributes to plastic manufacturing, and how it would impact sugar profits.
“There’s a discussion to be had about whether we can sacrifice sugar,” he said.
“At the end of the day if I’m a sugarcane grower and I’m sacrificing sugar and the price of sugar skyrockets, who’s going to take a cut on sugar to make plastics?
“Growers virtually at this stage get nothing out of value add.
“There’s got to be a discussion between growers and mills, and also industry and government.”
Manufacturing from by-products a ‘win-win’
Ms Gilbert said manufacturing bioplastics did not have to impact sugar profits.
“A lot of these products are made from the by-product of the processing of cane, so it’s a win-win for everyone,” she said.
“Everybody’s sitting there saying they want to be part of this but nobody’s pushing it.”
Queensland University of Technology chemistry professor, William Doherty, said the idea was not a new one.
“From 2004 there’s been a lot of interest to convert biomass into plastics, so over the years I’ve had a number of PhD students working on trying to use sugarcane fibre to convert it into plastics,” he said.
Dr Doherty said he was doubtful bioplastic manufacturing would gain much traction in Mackay in the near future.
“It’s not realistic because it comes to the stalk availability,” he said.
“I’m not trying to be negative here, I’m just saying that one of the stopping locks tends to be the stalk supply, it’s always been the problem.”
Could create thousands of manufacturing jobs
Ms Gilbert said she was approaching companies to gauge their interest in plant-based packaging, and working with State Government bodies to assess demand.
She is building a case study to take to investors and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
“I want to see Queensland and Mackay lead the charge of being able to fill that gap of having that supply chain of goods being made in Australia so we’re not caught in another situation like this,” she said.
Queensland’s Department of State Development, Innovation and Tourism said it was committed to creating a $1-billion sustainable and export-oriented industrial biotechnology and bioproducts sector.
“By 2035, an industrial biotechnology and bioproducts sector could support 6,640 full-time jobs in Queensland,” it said in a statement.
“The sector focusses on the development and manufacture of products such as bioplastics, biofuel, green chemicals, bioenergy, novel food and protein products, plant extractives and personal care, health and wellness.
“The Mackay region is ideally situated for the production of bioplastics with available industrial land, abundant feedstocks, ready access to a container port, local research expertise at CQU, the QUT Mackay Renewable Biocommodity Pilot Plant, and large markets for agricultural and industrial bioplastics.”
Widespread wet weather has again disrupted the sugar cane harvest in North Queensland with operations at Tully, the Herbert and Burdekin all impacted by the weekend rain.
Tully Sugar’s mill fired up for the season last Tuesday, but was operational for only four days before cane supplies dried up.
Tully Canegrowers chairman Jamie Dore said the mill had crushed 38,978 tonnes between Tuesday and Saturday, with an average CCS of 10.85.
Mr Dore said wet conditions had forced the harvest to cease and with more rain on the way it was possible they may not resume until July.
“This week is not looking good, we’ve got showers this week and into the weekend,” Mr Dore said.
“Probably about three out of 10 years we get this sort of start and we don’t get going until July, which is regrettable but we do live in the wet tropics.
“The flip side is that is has been a warm, wet winter so the existing crop will be growing, that is one little silver lining.”
Elsewhere, Invicta Mill kicked off the crush for the Wilmar group last Wednesday.
It was the first of the four Burdekin mills to start operations, with the season also delayed following wet weather in late May.
Kalamia Mill started crushing operations on Friday, but it came to a halt early on Sunday morning due to the wet weather impact on cane supply. That mill was scheduled to resume crushing later today.
Inkerman started up this morning and Pioneer is due to start tomorrow.
But the Herbert district is also experiencing weather delays.
A Wilmar spokeswoman said the Herbert mills were fully commissioned and ready to roll, but wet conditions had impacted plans to start crushing this week.
She said the company would review the supply situation on Friday and advise growers in that district of the revised start dates.
Further south, Plane Creek is set to start as planned on June 23 and Proserpine on June 30.
The annual sugar cane harvest is finally under way on the Burdekin after wet weather delayed the season start.
Wilmar’s Invicta Mill was the first of their four Burdekin mills to fire up operations for the 2020 crush, following wet weather in late May.
Wilmar’s Burdekin regional operations manager Paul Turnbull said it was a smooth start to the crushing season at Invicta yesterday, with operations starting at 6am.
“We started crushing on Invicta Mill’s B side at 6am yesterday and started up A side around midday,” Mr Turnbull said.
“The factory has gone well since start up and cane supply is steadily increasing.
“Our other three Burdekin mills are ready to roll and our operations teams are keen to get going.”
Mr Turnbull said Wilmar planned to start crushing at Kalamia tomorrow, Inkerman Mill on Sunday and Pioneer Mill on Monday.
“We originally planned to start crushing at Inkerman Mill on June 2 and at Invicta, Pioneer and Kalamia mills on June 9,” he said.
“But ground conditions were too wet for harvesting and the start dates were pushed back.
“It’s great to have the first of Wilmar’s eight mills up and running for 2020.”
Mr Turnbull said they expected to crush about 8 million tonnes of cane at their Burdekin mills this year, which was slightly up on last year’s throughput.
In total, Wilmar’s eight mills will process about 15 million tonnes of cane this year, with the crush expected to commence in the Herbert district next week and in Proserpine and Sarina by the end of June.
Burdekin cane supply manager John Tait reminded residents that cane trains were now on the move.
“It’s really important that motorists keep a lookout for cane trains as they travel around our milling regions,” Mr Tait said.
“Our cane trains can’t come to a quick stop and they can’t swerve.
“It’s great to have the first of Wilmar’s eight mills up and running for 2020.”
Mr Turnbull said they expected to crush about 8 million tonnes of cane at their Burdekin mills this year, which was slightly up on last year’s throughput.
In total, Wilmar’s eight mills will process about 15 million tonnes of cane this year, with the crush expected to commence in the Herbert district next week and in Proserpine and Sarina by the end of June.
Burdekin cane supply manager John Tait reminded residents that cane trains were now on the move.
“It’s really important that motorists keep a lookout for cane trains as they travel around our milling regions,” Mr Tait said.
“Our cane trains can’t come to a quick stop and they can’t swerve.
“Our message to motorists is clear: please use your train brain and always give way to cane trains.”
The sweet smell of molasses is again wafting across the north as the annual sugar cane harvest kicks off in the region.
MSF Sugar’s Tableland Mill was one of the first to fire up today, with the crush getting under way.
MSF Sugar cane supply manager Mick Ward said the company’s two other northern mills, South Johnstone and Mulgrave, were both due to start on June 16.
Mr Ward said estimated throughputs across the three mills were slightly higher than last year, with cane yields returning to closer to their long term average.
South Johnstone is expected to crush 1.434 million tonnes, up from 1.247 last year, while Mulgrave’s estimate is 1.263 million tonnes up from 1.159 in 2019.
The Tableland Mill is forecast to crush 660,000 tonnes, up from 620,000 last year.
“It will be up across the board, driven by cane yield which is around closer to our long term average,” Mr Ward said.
In South Johnstone, the forecast is for 78 tonnes of cane to the hectare, up from 70 tonnes last year.
The estimated cane yield for Mulgrave has seen a good recovery, with 85 tonnes to the hectare expected, up from 76 last year.
Similarly, the estimated yield is also up for Tableland, at 95 tonnes to the hectare compared to last year’s 90.
Mr Ward said with normal conditions and allowances for wet weather, he expected the season would finish in the first week of November for Tableland and in mid-November for South Johnstone and Mulgrave.
Further south, Inkerman will be the first of Wilmar’s eight mills to start crushing next week, after wet weather on the Burdekin delayed the season by six days.
