The Fiji Sugar Corporation invested $9m in upgrading the Lautoka Sugar Mill last year.

Outgoing Chief Executive, Graham Clarke says this included improving the air quality of emissions which benefited nearby residents and the efficiency of their boiler.

“At the same time, it improved the efficiency of our boiler, and using that we were able to generate electricity which we were able to export into the EFL grid and Lautoka alone earned more than two million dollars on power exports alone.”

Clark says they have been careful with their investments.

“We’ve invested in specific areas in the factory-like the cane carriers, the mills, those sort of things just to help out on the performance going forward. So we have to be very careful in what we spend and it has to be spent in the right place to do the right thing and get the right results.”

Mills upgrade will help improve sugar quality, however burnt cane remains an issue.

Fiji Sugar has gained global recognition and the FSC says we are in a position to be more selective in the international market.