The three sugar mills have crushed over one million tonnes of sugar cane to date.

The Fiji Sugar Corporation is banking on good weather to see the remaining cane harvested in time before the mills close.

Fiji Sugar Corporation Limited’s General Manager Operations Mikaele Biukoto said the recent spate of wet weather had hampered harvesting in some places but he was hoping the present good weather held out.

Mr Biukoto said there was about 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes of sugar cane still left standing in the fields.

“We are urging farmers, especially in Labasa to make the extra effort in harvesting the remaining sugar cane,” he said.

Labasa Sugar Mill is scheduled to close operations on November 6.

No dates have yet been set for the Lautoka and Rarawai Mills.

Mr Biukoto said there were no issues with any of the three mills as all have been crushing normally without any major breakdowns.

“We are hoping for a continuity of crush at these mills and that is why we are urging farmers to make good use of the weather and harvest as much cane as possible,” he said.

Mr Biukoto said the supply of sugar cane to the mills by the farmers had improved and he was hopeful that this would continue to increase so the mills keep crushing without halting the process due to lack of supply.

Edited byKathrin Krishna

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