THE Fiji Sugar Corporation confirmed that cane sweetness had dropped to an all-time low, according to an article published by The Fiji Times on January 7, 2000.

The Lautoka mill recorded purity of cane sugar at 7.4 per cent while Labasa had 8.1 per cent for the week ending 3pm on Monday.

FSC managing director Jonetani Galuinadi said the cane quality had been poor for several weeks.

He said despite the sunny weather in Lautoka and Labasa areas, both mills suffered substantial cane supply stoppages during the week.

He said the long weekend celebrations were the main contributing factor for the poor harvesting effort at the two centres.

Lautoka mill recorded 13 hours stoppage while Labasa recorded 36.4 hours.

Mr Galuinadi said every effort should be put in to maximise cane supply to the mills.

“The crushing season at both mills is now approaching the end and it is in the farmers’ interest to have minimum standover cane on their farms,” he said.

Labasa mill, he said, also sustained a major breakdown with the cane shredder on Sunday evening, adding that a bypass chute had been installed to allow the mill to continue crushing while repair works were carried out.

He said the unit was expected to be back in operation soon.

On cane quality, Mr Galuinadi said that because of poor quality of cane being processed, the rate of crystallisation and production of shipment sugar was low.

“On the restart after the Christmas shutdown, sugar recoveries from the low-quality cane were poor, resulting in high tonnes of cane per tonne of sugar for the week.

“It is a matter of concern that cane sweetness has dropped to an all-time low this season.”

For the week ending 3pm on Monday, Lautoka and Labasa mills crushed a total of 68,953 tonnes of cane and produced 4854 tonnes of sugar at a TCTS ratio of 13.8.

Meanwhile, rainfall the day before did not dampen the spirit of cutters and farmers in the Lautoka mill area.