A NEW sugar mill in Rakiraki will be considered if cane production increases.
This was the revelation by Prime Minister and Sugar Minister Voreqe Bainimarama during Parliament Monday.
Mr Bainimarama was responding to a question from Opposition parliamentarian Mosese Bulitavu about what measures Government had to increase cane production when he made comment on the possibility of a new mill in Rakiraki.
The PM said establishing a new mill in Penang was not viable despite a lot of discussion on the issue.
He said the reason for this was that the supply of sugarcane within the Rakiraki area was low.
However, Mr Bainimarama said a new mill would be considered if production within Penang mill area increased.
He said that was part of the industry discussion and it would only progress once cane production increased to a viable level.
The PM informed Parliament that the 2019 targets for the sugar industry was two million tonnes of sugarcane with a tonnes cane to tonne sugar (TCTS) of eight.
Mr Bainimarama said he expected finalisation of the National Sugar Policy by June this year.
