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Nearing the finish line

We’re now in the final weeks of the 2025 season and, barring a major rain event, we expect all of our factories to be out by the end of November.

Kalamia Mill crushed out last weekend, making it the first in the industry to finish the season. Proserpine Mill is on track to finish this weekend, followed by Pioneer and Invicta mills early next week.

Our eight factories have now processed about 13.2M tonnes of sugarcane, or 92 per cent of the estimated crop.

Dry conditions have caused the crop to drop off in the Burdekin, Proserpine and Plane Creek regions, but the Herbert is holding above estimate. The crop figures below are based on our adjusted estimate.

HERBERT

  • Our adjusted estimate is forecasting the final Herbert crop at 3.87 million tonnes – an increase of 170,000 tonnes on the September estimate.
  • Recent dry and cool conditions have seen CCS levels climb above 13 units, which is better than expected after the February flood event.
  • Based on current crop estimates and no significant downtime from unplanned factory stops or wet weather, we expect to finish the season in the Herbert in the week ending 22 November.

BURDEKIN

  • Yield on the remaining crop is falling away. Our forecast total tonnes for the Burdekin is down to 7.63M tonnes.
  • CCS has followed the forecast budget all season and has now peaked.
  • Kalamia Mill finished the season on Saturday 25 October. Invicta and Pioneer mills are expected to finish early next week and Inkerman is expected to finish next weekend.

PROSERPINE

3. PRO

  • Due to prolonged dry weather, the crop yield is well below budget at 72.2 tonnes per hectare, but CCS remains well above budget.
  • Factory performance has been strong during the 2025 season.
  • The last day of harvesting for Proserpine Mill is Friday 31 October and we expect to crush out on Saturday 1 November.

PLANE CREEK

4. PCK

  • The Plane Creek crop is currently cutting at 78 tonnes per hectare with almost all standover cane processed.
  • Recent thunderstorms across the district limited supply to the factory during the week.
  • Based on current crop estimates and no significant downtime from unplanned factory stops or wet weather, we expect to finish the season at Plane Creek in the last week of November.

DAVE ZELLER
General Manager - Cane Supply and Grower Relations

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