Today we reached the halfway mark for the 2021 crush.

Our factories have collectively processed 7.44 million tonnes of cane, or 50 per cent of the estimated 14.88 million tonne crop.

Unfortunately, widespread overnight rain has brought harvesting to a standstill in the Burdekin, Proserpine and Plane Creek regions. Limited harvesting is taking place today in the Herbert.

Most of our mills have run out of cane and won’t resume crushing until later this week, at the earliest.

We are using the forced downtime to do chemical cleans and maintenance work.

HERBERT

• Wet weather continues to create challenges for the harvesting and milling sectors.
• The region has been impacted by rain in almost every week of the season to date, resulting in reduced throughputs and below-budget CCS.
• Macknade and Victoria B side mills ran out of cane this morning following overnight rain. A small amount of harvesting is taking place today to supply Victoria's A side mill.

BURDEKIN

• The four Burdekin factories have maximised crush rates in recent weeks, putting the region ahead of budget for total tonnes crushed.
• CCS levels continue to track above budget and are approaching the seasonal peak.
• Falls of up to 150mm overnight have brought harvesting to a standstill, with crushing operations unlikely to resume until mid to late next week.

PROSERPINE

• Harvesting conditions have been predominantly favourable in recent weeks and CCS has continued to track above budget.
• Overnight falls of up to 70mm have stopped harvesting and crushing operations, but have been generally well received by growers as good top-up rain.
• We are taking advantage of the rain stop to do a chemical clean, planned maintenance activities, and complete repairs to No. 3 boiler.

PLANE CREEK

• Crush rates are now being impacted by high CCS levels, as the pan stage becomes the rate limiting station.
• Overnight falls of between 50mm and 100mm have halted harvesting operations, and we are unlikely to resume crushing until later this week.
• Site works are due to start for the installation of the new Pan 5 condenser, which will be returned to service in mid-September.

PAUL GIORDANI
General Manager - Cane Supply and Grower Relations