Fiji’s sugar industry is confronting a difficult start to the 2025 crushing campaign as labour shortages and mechanical outages disrupt supply to the mills. Cane deliveries to Lautoka have fallen sharply, with only about 61 per cent of manual labour groups currently active, the lowest participation rate among the three mills. The reduced workforce is limiting harvest and haulage, cutting throughput just as the season should be building momentum.
Operational risk is also rising on the factory side. The Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) has confirmed a full shutdown at the Rarawai mill in Ba after a boiler fault halted crushing while urgent repairs are carried out. The stoppage adds to pressure on growers and contractors who have limited windows to cut and cart cane to meet quality thresholds and avoid field losses. FSC has deployed technical teams, but the outage underlines fragile plant reliability after several tight seasons.
The Sugar Industry Tribunal scheduled Lautoka to start crushing on 11 June and Labasa on 17 June, with no date initially published for Rarawai, reflecting planning uncertainty around readiness. Early season optimism from FSC that 2025 could see a 15 per cent lift in cane crushed compared with 2024 will now be tested by manpower constraints and downtime. The forecast was contingent on cooperative weather and stable operations.
Prices offer mixed signals for growers. FSC set a forecast price of $71.41 per tonne for 2025, slightly below the 2024 forecast, with the government top up keeping the guaranteed price at $85 per tonne. The first payment of $42.85 per tonne is intended to support cash flow, but weaker delivery volumes and plant interruptions could dilute benefits if tonnes are not harvested and processed promptly.
Structural issues continue to shadow the sector. Drought conditions in 2024 reduced the previous crop and highlighted exposure to climate variability, while quality concerns have prompted FSC to commission work on cane quality drivers and mill losses. The combination of labour shortages, equipment reliability and agronomic stress underscores the need for coordinated fixes that span farm practices, seasonal labour mobilisation, logistics and factory maintenance. Without rapid progress, the 2025 season risks underperforming projections and placing additional strain on rural livelihoods that depend on sugar.
