Ord River cane growers have negotiated a $4 million deal with the state government so they can puchase the region's sugar mill for processing of this year's crop, but long-term ownership of the mill remains unclear.
Ord River cane growers have negotiated a $4 million deal with the state government so they can puchase the region's sugar mill for processing of this year's crop, but long-term ownership of the mill remains unclear.
The agreement will allow Ord Cane Growers Pty Ltd to purchase the mill from its owners, Korea's Chiel Jedang, with up to $4 million allocated from the State Government.
Ord Cane Growers will investigate options to continue operating the mill beyond this year's harvest, according to an announcement from Agriculture and Food Minister Kim Chance.
The full text of the announcement is pasted below
The State Government has announced a package of up to $4 million to assist the Ord sugar growers to purchase the sugar mill to process this year's crop.
An agreement was reached today enabling Ord River Cane Growers Pty Ltd to purchase the mill from CJ Ord River Sugar.
Agriculture and Food Minister Kim Chance said that under the agreement as much sugar cane as possible would be processed through the mill and any remaining cane would be disposed of in an environmentally acceptable manner.
Mr Chance said the harvest was expected to start in the next two weeks and continue through until the middle of November, pending the start of the wet season.
Ord River Cane Growers Pty Ltd would be investigating options to continue operating the mill beyond the 2007 harvest.
The Minister said he was pleased an agreement had been reached and that the majority of this year's crop could now be harvested.
"Western Australia's sugar cane industry can now move forward with some confidence and will be directly involved in any future decisions about the industry," he said.
Ord River Cane Growers Pty Ltd director Paul Mock said he was excited at the opportunity to operate the mill for this season.
"There is still a lot of hard work to do, but we are very pleased to now be able to get onto processing this year's sugar cane crop," Mr Mock said.
"Growers now have the security that the mill will stay and future opportunities will be investigated for continuing operations past the end of this year.
"We would like to thank the Departments of Agriculture and Food, Treasury and Finance and the WA Trade Office - Korea for assisting with negotiations and to CJ Corporation for finalising the agreement today."
CJ Corporation Korea vice president Park said he believed the industry would operate much more effectively now that the growers would be working as one entity with the sugar mill.
"We are pleased an agreement has been reached and express our sincere appreciation to the WA Government for its support and assistance with negotiations," Mr Park said.
Both Ord River Cane Growers Pty Ltd and CJ Corporation look forward to a continued relationship through the export of WA sugar to Indonesia and Singapore.
