THE impact of two consecutive dry weather spells, Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston and labour issues on cane farms in the Western Division has resulted in a revision of the projected sugar make and expected earnings this season.
This was shared by Fiji Sugar Corporation CEO Abdul Khan this week.
“Initially we were looking at about 1.4million tonnes as the total crop production that our mills would process this year,” he said.
“Unfortunately, we have had to revise this down due to the impact of natural disasters on our cane and the present estimate is that we should harvest and process about 1.37million tonnes.
“If you look at it in terms of the expected sugar content and dollar value, the gross revenue expected is between $140 to $145million.
“This is a drop of about $300,000 from our initial projection.”
Mr Khan said the first load of raw sugar to the European Union was shipped in the beginning of August.
“This is expected to reach the EU before September and the reason it must reach there by that date, if you look at the sugar year, it starts from October 1 to September 30 — so we’re trying to get into the present sugar year.”
He said the next shipment was expected to depart on September 25.
