[File Photo]

The Fiji Sugar Corporation has crushed over one million tonnes of cane producing 109, 554 tonnes of sugar as of Monday.

The FSC says sugar recovery is better when compared to the last four years, mainly due to improved milling operations.

It says the season-to-date TCTS stands at 10.1 units as compared to 10.5 in 2021 and 11.2 in 2020 seasons.

The FSC also highlights that mechanical stops have been significantly low this year, however, the mills are forced to reduce rate of operations in view of thinning cane supply on a regular basis.

It adds the design capacity of the mills allows for a weekly crush of 40,000 tonnes cane and the weekly throughput is slightly above 30,000 tonnes per week due to weak cane supply.

However, the FSC is concerned with the quality of cane received at the three mills, particularly the burnt cane ratios.

It says in the past few weeks, the burnt cane percentages are as high as 90% in the Viti Levu mills and averaging 70% in Labasa.

The FSC says combined with high extraneous matter in billet cane, these factors are putting undue constraints on the Process Team in terms of sugar extraction.

It stresses that the cost of operations is also inflated due to high chemical usage for processing of burnt cane.

The FSC also says that three sugar cargoes and a molasses tanker have left our shores this season.

It is envisaged that FSC will commit to two more sugar cargoes and a molasses tanker before the end of the season.