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Dry conditions have helped keep the 2026 Burdekin crush moving, with Kalamia Mill expected to be the first Wilmar factory to finish the season. Photo source: Wilmar Sugar Australia
Contributed with thanks by Wilmar Sugar and Renewables
The Burdekin sugar crush is powering towards an October finish, with predominantly dry conditions helping harvesting and transport crews maintain strong progress across the district.
Wilmar Sugar and Renewables reported on September 11th that its eight North Queensland mills had processed 9.24 million tonnes of cane, representing about 66 per cent of its estimated 13.85 million tonne crop.
In the Burdekin, 15 weeks of predominantly dry weather have supported harvesting and cane transport, while sugar content has also been performing better than expected.
Season-to-date Commercial Cane Sugar (CCS), a measure of the recoverable sugar in cane, is tracking 0.51 of a unit above Wilmar's budget.
The stronger CCS result is providing some relief from reduced cane tonnages this season.
With the crush now well advanced, Kalamia Mill is expected to become the first of Wilmar's eight factories to finish for the year, with crush-out currently forecast for mid-October.
The Burdekin's remaining three Wilmar mills are expected to finish by the end of October.
Across Wilmar's other milling regions, conditions have produced mixed results.
In the Herbert, the crop is cutting at 97 per cent of the adjusted estimate, while weekly CCS has climbed to 14.35, more than one unit above budget for this stage of the season.
Further south, Proserpine Mill is approaching one million tonnes crushed, although persistent dry conditions have affected the crop, which is cutting at about 94 per cent of its adjusted estimate.
At Plane Creek, harvesting conditions have remained favourable and CCS is well above budget at a season-to-date average of 14.82. However, Wilmar reported the lack of in-season rainfall was contributing to a significant reduction in yield.
Wilmar expects its first factory to finish crushing in mid-October, with the final mill scheduled to finish by mid-November.
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