6 minute read
Southern Region
This section brought to you in association with
Nordzucker acquired a 70 per cent controlling interest in the share capital of Mackay Sugar through an investment of $60 million in equity and the provision of a shareholder loan of up to $60 million to the company.
Advertisement
This followed an 18-month long worldwide search by Mackay Sugar to find a partner to invest in the business and improve milling performance.
A shareholder meeting to vote on the transaction was held on Monday, July 29, 2019 at which the shareholders of Mackay Sugar overwhelmingly voted to support the deal.
July saw falls of rain that ranged from 40 mm to over 200 mm across the district. These falls brought harvesting to a stop for a short time. But this supported maintaining the crop estimate and provided favourable conditions for planting and ratoons.
October–November 2019
The past year has seen the ownership of Mackay Sugar take a new change moving into the future. After a difficult period in recent times, Nordzucker became 70 per cent owners after Mackay Sugar Shareholders and Growers voted to accept the offer. This offer deals with debt and a recapitalization plan to improve the milling performance and lead to improved crop production. This investment will allow the local industry to have the confidence going forward.
The full Board of Mackay Sugar is Michael Gerloff Chairman, Sven Buhrmann, Frank Knaelmann, Mark Day, Maurie Maughan, Paul Manning Deputy Chairman, Lee Blackburn and George Williams
MSL General Manager is Jannik Robin OLejas from Denmark who has relocated to Mackay. By the end of the year there will be five Nordzucker staff relocated to live permanently in Mackay.
The Nordzucker Group, based in Braunschweig, Germany, is one of the leading sugar manufacturers in Europe, with 18 production and refinery facilities producing up to 2.7 million tonnes of refined sugar annually. The Group also processes sugar beet into bioethanol and animal feed. Sustainability along the entire value chain is a top priority for the company. Nordzucker has approximately 3,200 employees producing its products and services to provide a strong foundation for further growth.
The last six months didn’t give the crop for this year a very good start with very small amounts of rain. To date CCS has been a little below expectation. It is believed that the disease YCS is affecting the crops. All sectors of the industry are looking for a resolution of the issue.
The RSSA with QSL was concluded twelve months early. This allowed growers to choose their marketer for GEI sugar for the 2019 season. The choice was Mackay Sugars marketer QCS or QSL. Growers could supply to which ever marketer they chose. Also, growers could apply a percentage to either marketer. QCS have engaged Arthur Douglas to support growers in supporting their choice. Arthur has several years of experience in Agricultural Banking. QSL have a team of support for their marketing options led by Cathy Kelly
Proserpine 1,561,592 73.5 14.95 Mackay Sugar 4,672,633 67.3 13.96 Mills Plane Creek 1,142,588 66.0 14.73
Central Region production: 7,376,810 tonnes
n By Michael Hetherington,
Southern Director Summer 2018–19
Whilst ISIS Central region recorded the lowest January rainfall since 1958 other places up North were experiencing/suffering record rainfall. Cane crops in the Southern region, when irrigated, were looking very good. An early cut in 2018 and then the December 2018 rainfall gave ratoons a good start.
Irrigation kept them rolling – the efficacy of booms and pivots was obvious. Windy conditions were making the ‘old school’ travelling irrigators struggle. The cost of operating irrigators is high but it’s also unavoidable. The corners where the winch didn’t reach were a grim reminder of what life before irrigation was like.
Autumn 2019
There were haves and have nots in the Wide Bay farming area. The haves – up to 150 mm
This section brought to you in association with
Why the Paradise Dam became a fiasco will take years to discover.
(6 inches for the old timers) and the have nots – maybe 15 mm (maybe half an inch) all within the Bundaberg/Childers/Wallaville triangle. Compare this to the Far North and it makes one wonder.
Winter 2019
Crushing starts were later than usual in the ‘dry as’ Southern Region.
Those who have worked to grow the crop with irrigation should be given awards by the community for keeping the economy alive.
Management of the system has improved but the cost was the main reason for low usage compared to availability. Watering ground ahead of any planting preparation seems to be a necessity, given the way soil moisture is.
October–November 2019
The middle south has been labouring along in drought and not a lot else. Until the bombshell of the Paradise Dam.
Queensland and northern New South Wales became obvious. Southern Queensland needs dams to survive. The Northern Rivers of New South Wales needs levy banks.
Why the Paradise Dam became a fiasco will take years to discover. Perhaps it’s just that I have missed the news regarding the building of levies in New South Wales over the years. The major storage on the Burnett River has always been right up there in the news. I guess too much water as per NSW is less problematic than too little as per Southern Queensland.
Through being a Member of Landcare Committees years ago, I was a minor Committee man on the “Community Reference Panel for the Construction of a Storage on the Lower Burnett”. I was a desperate dryland farmer who supported practically anything to give me water. We had even installed the on-farm works and yet for years no water came to the boundary. I recall my confusion at the decision-making process regarding where, when and how much storage was to be.
What I would say to summarise is that the animal that wanted to be a horse was made by a committee and came out a camel, called Paradise. What is needed is to find anyone who said “I told you so” and hopefully from that make the best of a bad lot.
At one stage the quantity of water being sold was so small as to cause the owner of the water to claim that economy of scale was not being reached and water price would have to rise. Now irrigators are worried, in extremis, that they will simply run dry. And all this is irrelevant to some sugar growing areas which makes it difficult on the matter of lobbying.
So, what else in the Region – high, high, high, CCS and with a reasonable market outlook sugarcane farming and milling is still attractive to international sugar industry participants.
In November, Isis Central Sugar Mill shareholders voted overwhelmingly to accept a proposal from international sugar producer Almoiz Group to acquire a majority interest.
Based in Lahore Pakistan, the company is recognised globally as a high-quality producer of white refined sugar and molasses – corporate clients include Pepsi.
Almoiz will invest up to $35 million subject to approvals. When asked why, their people said “sugar per hectare”
To the current harvest, it looks like average for a finish, seeing as so little has stopped the field work this year.
Then we’ll see about this water.
Bundaberg 1,315,907 72.9 14.80 Sugar South Isis 1,202,300 82.0 14.65 Maryborough 795,353 67.9 13.49 Rocky Point 391,765 100.8 13.63
