La Nina weather conditions continue to disrupt the 2022 season.
Crushing is currently at a standstill in the Burdekin region following significant widespread rain over the weekend. Our other milling regions are also experiencing cane supply issues, in particular the Herbert. More wet weather is forecast for this week.
In-season rain has caused the crop to grow on in all of our milling regions and we have increased our total crop estimate to 16.48M tonnes of cane.
Our eight mills have now processed 14.14M tonnes of cane, which represents 86 per cent of the revised total crop.
We are committed to working with growers and harvesting contractors to get the remaining crop off.
Based on projected throughputs and additional time built in for wet weather, we currently expect to finish the season in the first week of January.
HERBERT
- The Herbert crop has been revised upwards from 4.85M to 4.9M tonnes due to in-season growth.
- Wet weather continues to impact harvesting and crushing operations. The harvesting sector is doing a good job at supplying cane in difficult field conditions.
- Wet weather is also having a negative impact on CCS and cane purity.
- We are utilising wet weather interruptions to perform routine maintenance and cleans at both factories, reducing the need for scheduled maintenance stops.
BURDEKIN
- The Burdekin crop has been revised upwards from 8.15M to 8.2M tonnes.
- Recent widespread rain has impacted harvesting and crushing operations, with all four Burdekin mills currently stopped.
- We are carrying out maintenance activities during the forced downtime to put the factories in a good position to crush out the remaining crop when harvesting resumes.
- We are continuing to talk with grower representatives about opportunities to transfer cane between the Burdekin sites to achieve the most efficient removal of the remaining crop.
PROSERPINE
- The Proserpine crop has been revised upwards from 1.78 to 1.83M tonnes.
- We have pushed out planned maintenance days as much as possible in recent weeks to take advantage of favourable harvesting conditions, with some good weekly throughputs recorded as a result.
- There is a continued focus on maintaining stable operations and utilising any downtime to undertake additional maintenance activities.
- The next major maintenance day is currently scheduled for Thursday, 1 December.
PLANE CREEK
- The Plane Creek crop has been revised upwards from 1.5M to 1.55M tonnes.
- The factory has resumed normal crushing operations following an extended stop last week. We are utilising all downtime to conduct opportunity maintenance.
- Plane Creek Mill has not been seriously impacted by weather so far this week, but widespread rain is forecast.
- Average CCS continues to track below budget.
COMMUNITY SAFETY
With schools finishing up for the Christmas holidays, it’s important to remind children that the crush is still going. Please remind children that they might be on holidays, but cane trains aren’t.
PAUL GIORDANI
General Manager - Cane Supply and Grower Relations
