Mackay Sugar's Marian Factory Faces Hurdles As Crush Begins

Mackay Sugar has reported its 2024 crushing season is well underway.
As of 6am last Friday (26th July), Mackay Sugar said in a statement that its three factories have crushed a combined 16 per cent of the predicted crop.
“Farleigh and Racecourse mills are experiencing some of the best early-season crushing performance in recent years, with Farleigh delivering as much as 85.4 per cent reliability and Racecourse as much as 90.3 per cent,” the statement read.
Despite the evident improvements at two of Mackay Sugar’s mills, the organisation admitted that the season start up at Marian factory has not been good enough.
“Mackay Sugar, along with its Board of Directors, has publicly acknowledged this on several occasions and have clearly committed to implementing changes to address the season’s challenges so they will not be repeated,” the business shared in its statement.
“Over the past 12 months, Mackay Sugar invested $84.3M in capital improvements and maintenance at its three factories, with Marian receiving almost half this spend. This significant investment, combined with widespread skilled labour shortages, exceeded Mackay Sugar’s ability to deliver the work on time and as a result it was unable to start Marian factory as planned.
“Mackay Sugar reallocated resources to Marian and its crews worked around the clock to start the factory on 17 June before several factory stops occurred due to issues ranging from equipment failures to human error, which are currently under investigation.
“In Marian’s first full week of crushing, the factory has delivered rates in line with the same time last year.
“We continue to work with growers and harvester groups to manage allotments and cane transfers and we will continue doing so throughout the season, as we do every year.”
Mackay Sugar said it is also working alongside industry bodies to rectify this difficult situation.
“Milling performance is integral to everyone involved in our symbiotic industry - our ambition is to crush the entire crop, and we are doing what we can to achieve this.
“Mackay Sugar would like to remind members of our community and industry to remain respectful and courteous when dealing with our employees.
“Whilst we appreciate the concerns and impacts of milling performance on growers, our people in frontline roles are not personally responsible for Marian’s challenges and should never be subjected to abuse.
“Mackay Sugar employees have remained dedicated throughout the maintenance season and start up – as they are every year – and will continue their commitment to ensuring a positive future for our business and industry.”

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Racecourse Mill has reported a strong start to the crush according to Mackay Sugar. Photo credit: Amanda Wright

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