In 1988, the Fiji Sugar Corporation marked a significant milestone in its expansion efforts by commissioning Fiji’s largest sugar crusher at the Labasa Mill, as reported on August 26 in The Fiji Times. The new crusher, costing $1.8 million, was the first upgrade to the mill’s crushing capabilities since its inception in 1894 by the Colonial Sugar Refining Company.
Labasa Mill was the third sugar mill built in the country, following the Penang and Rarawai mills. The crusher was acquired from Puna Mills in Hawaii in late 1987, after that facility was forced to shut down due to high production costs. FSC engineers traveled to Hawaii in 1987 to dismantle the equipment, which was then shipped to Labasa for assembly and installation.
This project was part of a broader $42 million investment plan by the FSC for the mill’s development since it took control from CSR in 1973. Lyle Cupit, chairman of FSC’s board of directors, noted that Labasa Mill’s capital expenditure share of 32 percent indicated a strong commitment to its development. This investment was part of the $130 million the corporation allocated for upgrading all four mills over 15 years.
The improvements extended beyond the crusher, with the mill complex benefiting from new bulk storage and port facilities at Malau, a new boiler, updated feeding stations, and additional evaporators and condensers. These enhancements allowed the FSC to efficiently crush cane during a longer season while effectively storing and shipping sugar.
The new crusher features 84-inch rollers, pressure feed rollers, gearings, and a 1000-hour turbine drive, resembling existing crushers but on a larger scale. According to Mr. Cupit, while the new crusher would yield only a modest increase in throughput, it would significantly enhance the overall efficiency, improving the extraction of sugar juice from bagasse from about 5 percent to a targeted 3.5 to 4 percent. Additionally, it would provide redundancy since crushing operations could continue if one of the three existing crushers failed.
Work on the new crusher commenced in early March 1988, with oversight from Sheik Ahmed and Jack Sinclair. The FSC planned to install another similar crusher ordered from Walkers of Australia in the upcoming slack season to replace the current number three crusher. Once operational, Labasa would boast the largest and most modern milling train among the country’s sugar mills.
The three existing crushers at Labasa, which were initially installed in 1894, have undergone various modifications over the years to boost their crushing capacity to accommodate rising cane production. With the new crusher, Labasa Mill is projected to crush 1.2 million tonnes of cane during a 30-week season, achieving an average throughput of 400,000 tonnes per week.
Mr. Cupit expressed that the decision to add an extra crusher at Labasa was a point of pride for both the FSC and the sugar industry.