AUSTRALIA'S newest sugar mill is looking toward the future with grand expansion plans and value adding opportunities on the horizon for MSF Sugar's Tableland Mill.
About $200 million has been pumped in to the mill, based at Arriga on the Atherton Tablelands, with renewable energy projects and expanding the business high on the agenda.
MSF Sugar general manager cane supply Hywel Cook said water security was a priority for the company and the entire region to allow for future growth.
"We've been talking with the Queensland government on Nullinga Dam for a couple of years now and if they are willing we'll expand our farming operations, we'll expand the sugar mill and it will assist us in building an ethanol distillery on this site as well," Mr Cook said.
"We've invested about $200m in new infrastructure between our farming business and power station."
Mr Cook said the mill provided high paying jobs that had a flow on effect into the entire community.
With expansion, he said more jobs could be created which would be valuable for the region.
"If you look at other towns where there is a downturn in agriculture, you see what the impact is on the town."
The mill fired up for the season last week, and will crush 708,000 tonnes of sugar this year.
Tableland Mill manager Kirk Lang said the operation was unique as all cane was trucked to the site, rather than relying on rail, which allowed for a quick turn around.
"We have what is called the shortest cut to crush in Australia, so the minute the harvester cuts the cane locally here and the truck delivers it is within one to two hours."
Mr Lang said each bin holds about 24 tonnes of cane, which goes to the weighbridge, through the shredder and then the maceration process begins to start extracting the juice.
From there is goes into evaporation tanks, sugar crystals are added and raw sugar is ground.
"From the minute it gets dumped to when we start to make raw sugar is eight hours," Mr Lang said.
He said he was excited by the green energy projects under way at the mill, with the new power plant to be up and running by September.
"By next year we will be providing enough energy to the grid to power every house on the tablelands.
"We're creating electricity out of green energy, ethanol will be out of green energy, everything we do goes back onto the farm, everything we did supports the local community.
"We're sitting in a location where you've got a wind farm creating green energy, you'll have a base load power plant here in the sugar mill and solar, and the reality is for expansion up here we all need more water."
"We have the scope to crush up to 950,000 tonne, but if the dam goes ahead and there's a lot more mills in this plant we could do 1-2 million."
Opposition Agriculture spokesman Tony Perrett last week recommitted to getting the Nullinga Dam project shovel ready under an elected LNP government.
Mr Perrett said Far North Queensland's water security was critical to the region's prosperity and future economic opportunities.
"We already know how important agriculture is to the Tablelands.
"By making even more water available, the region will finally be able to unlock its production potential and increase opportunities throughout the agricultural supply chain.
"More water means more fruit, vegetables, sugar cane and jobs.
"You don't have to explain to Tablelanders about the economic impacts dams can have on regions.
"Just look at the impact the Tinaroo Dam had on the prosperity of the region in the 1960s."
