Wilmar Sugar has revised their total crop estimate due to in-season growth in the Herbert and Proserpine regions.
The estimate has been revised upwards with the total estimate for the Wilmar mills now 16.28 million tonnes.
Wilmar Sugar general manager cane supply and grower relations Paul Giordani said it was an increase of 230,000 tonnes or 1.43 per cent on the previous forecast.
"We have now processed a total of 10.80m tonnes of sugarcane, or 66.33 percent of the total re-estimated crop," he said.
"Rain continues to have a major impact on harvesting and crushing operations, particularly in the Herbert and Plane Creek regions.
"With more rain forecast, it is critical that all sectors of the industry continue to work together to get the remaining crop off."
In the Herbert region, the crop has been revised upwards from 4.7m tonnes to 4.85m tonnes. An increase of 3.2 percent.
A total figure of 3.08m tonnes has been crushed since the season commenced with the commercial cane sugar recording 12.20 as of October 18.
Mr Giordani said four months of above-average rainfall had created significant cane supply challenges, and wet weather had been the major cause of lost time this season.
In the Burdekin region, Mr Giordani said factory reliability had been consistent with the Burdekin mills reaching their 70 percent milestone for the 2022 season.
"CCS continues its upward trend, with this week's average the highest recorded so far this season," he said.
5.73m tonnes had been crushed to date with the current CCS recording 15.15 this week.
The Proserpine crop has been revised upwards from 1.7m tonnes to 1.78m tonnes. An increase of 4.7 percent on the previous estimate.
Mr Giordani said with rain forecast in the coming days, the operations team was preparing a work plan to make good use of potential downtime.
1.03m tonnes of cane has been crushed since the season began with a current CCS of 14.82 as of October 18.
In Plane Creek, 945,000 tonnes has been crushed equating to 58 percent of the total 1.78m tonne estimate.
As of October 18, the CCS recorded 14.82.
Mr Giordani said field conditions had been challenging in recent weeks due to in-season rain.
"The field sector is doing a good job at maintaining cane supply in challenging conditions," he said.
"Factory rate and reliability has been good."
Mr Giordani said the Wilmar Sugar mills had now processed two-thirds of the total re-estimated crop.
"We currently expect all of our mills to crush out by late December," he said.
Zoe Thomas
Northern based journalist at North Queensland Register and Queensland Country Life.
Northern based journalist at North Queensland Register and Queensland Country Life.
