CRUSHING began this month at the Rarawai sugar mill in Ba and the Fiji Sugar Corporation has projected a total crush of about 2.1 million tonnes.
A random survey of farmers in the district two weeks earlier found them wary of what this season would bring.
Newly appointed FSC chief executive officer Graham Clark has assured growers that Rarawai will be able to handle the increased cane capacity from the Penang mill area, estimated at 175,000 tonnes, and also take care of all Rarawai cane, estimated at 600,000 tonnes.
Farmers and lorry operators have also been assured that FSC will make every attempt to address logistical issues which plagued both the Rarawai and Lautoka mills last year.
However, farmers surveyed expressed the hope that promises made by FSC would ring true.
What the farmers say:
* One of their biggest concerns this season is how the FSC will prioritise manually cut and mechanically harvested or billeted cane at Rarawai. Billeted cane — because of the fact that it is chopped up into smaller sections by mechanical harvesters — has a very limited shelf-life. It requires immediate transportation and very quick entry into cane carriers for processing.
* Rarawai had problems with this last year because lorries carting manually cut cane also needed a quick turnaround at the Ba mill. The longer they stand in queues, the bigger the cost to farmers in terms of fees, food, grog and cash demands by the canecutters lodging at their farms.
* Many expressed strong concerns because at the time of the survey, the FSC had yet to unveil how it would handle the issue.
* Ba farmers insist their cane should be prioritised and this presents a number of issues for the FSC.
* Rakiraki farmers cultivating in hilly areas have also called for a dumping station at the Penang mill site. They say that the old Bedford trucks they use work better than more modern lorries on steep inclines. However, the Bedfords can only carry seven tonnes at a time and many would not be able to make the 66km journey to Rarawai.
* Earlier this year, FSC said there would be no dumping at Penang, although last week chief operating officer Navin Chandra said FSC had devised a solution — the details of which has not been announced as yet.
* Rarawai last year recorded more than 700 hours in stoppages because of mechanical issues — the highest in the country.
* At the start of the 2016 harvest and crushing season, farmers were assured that Rarawai would be able to cope with the extra load from the Penang mill area in Rakiraki.
* However, both Rarawai and Lautoka mills ground to a halt, time and time again. The stoppages resulted in long queues of cane trucks at the Rarawai mill yard and this forced the FSC to divert cane from Ba to the Lautoka mill — which also developed problems with one of its power generators — resulting in stoppages and lower than average crush rate.
* This resulted in trucks backed up at both mills, adding to the frustration of drivers. Farmers also bore the brunt of this delay, because of the increased costs incurred in keeping labourers paid, housed and fed.
* All in all, the three FSC mills recorded a total of about 1900 hours in stoppages. Because of the problems, the FSC had to fly in engineers from India.
* FSC said it was not only mechanical issues, but also cane supply that had contributed to mill down time. Cane supply is an issue especially over the weekend because the vast majority of cutters are iTaukei, and Sundays were holy days of observation for them.
* Of the three mills, Lautoka had the highest number of stoppages because of poor cane supply at 738 hours, followed by Labasa at 668.9 and Rarawai at 480.8.
* In terms of stoppages caused by mechanical issues, Rarawai topped the list again with 695.4 hours, followed by Lautoka with 344.1 hours and Labasa with 136.3 hours.
Lautoka Mill
On June 12, about 100 sugarcane-laden trucks were parked next to the silent Lautoka sugar mill. Truck drivers from Sigatoka, Nadi and Lautoka were forced to sleep in the cabs of their vehicles after mechanical issues brought the factory to a standstill on June 10.
* The Fiji Times spoke to some of the tired and frustrated drivers who said there was nothing they could do but wait.
* They said they had been fed by the FSC staff and had been informed the mill would resume crushing at 5pm. Lorry operators said quite a number of drivers had been waiting for about 24 hours and a handful had been in the queue for about 48 hours.
* With crushing already underway at the country’s largest mill, farmers are raising concerns about the length of time it took to drop one load of cane.
* The Lautoka Cane Producers Association said its members were hoping the crush rate improves and hiccups normally associated with teething issues at the start of crush are ironed out as soon as possible.
* The success of the 2017 sugarcane and harvesting season for growers from Sigatoka to the Sugar City will be determined by how efficiently the Lautoka mill operates over the next few months.
* The country’s largest cane processing factory has had its share of problems over the past few years, culminating with the second highest number of stoppages because of mechanical issues last year at about 345 hours — and highest stoppages due to cane supply at 738 hours.
* The Fiji Sugar Corporation earlier this month revealed its Strategic Action Plan for the next five years and CEO Graham Clark said the focus was to increase cane production to between four and five million tonnes, lower harvest and transport costs and increase milling efficiency.
* This, he said, would put more dollars in the farmers’ pockets and entice youths to enter cane farming.
* Mr Clark also said that the three remaining mills — Labasa, Rarawai and Lautoka — were more than capable of handling the volume of cane currently being produced.
* He also assured farmers that the FSC would do its best to reduce lorry queues at mill yards by crushing at a steady rate with minimal disruptions.
* Mr Clark said Lautoka was in shape to handle cane from Sigatoka to Lautoka — and even Ba — should the need arise. That is the plan. Sugarcane farmers, however, said they had heard this before.
* Mr Clark’s predecessor, Abdul Khan, made similar promises but continuous breakdowns at Lautoka over the past few years resulted in stoppages, threats of industrial action by lorry operators and farmers being forced to wait up to three days in some instances to unload cane. Many farmers who were interviewed during The Fiji Times survey said they would take a wait-and-see approach with the new CEO’s plans for the Lautoka mill and the industry as a whole.
* They said if the Lautoka mill operated as promised, extra effort would be made to ensure fresh green cane was harvested and supplied. However, they also said if the mill succumbed to continuous breakdowns, many would incur additional costs in feeding and housing labourers.
* Concerns were also raised by growers on flat land who had hired mechanical harvesters. Every hour that harvesters are idle, farmers incur additional costs.
* Last week, the Fiji Cane Lorry Association reported that the Lautoka sugar mill was operating well but crushing was slower than normal.
* Farmers in Paipai and Vitogo said some trucks had waited overnight and some that had gone to unload cane in the wee hours of the morning did not return until late at night.
* Lorry drivers interviewed by this newspaper said they would give the mill two weeks to settle down before commenting further on its performance.
* Speaking at consultations with farmers, Mr Clark asked sugarcane farmers to grow more cane. Growers, however, have said the miller needs to ensure its factories work reasonably well so they were not burdened with increased costs during the crushing season. The FSC has promised to do so.
* Government recently announced a further $202 million loan guarantee to FSC’s existing $120m loan facility with the ANZ Bank.
A large portion of the loan has been earmarked for major improvements to all mills including Lautoka.