Mill Update - Update on 2022 Season Start
Invicta Mill and Inkerman Mill commenced yesterday and it was not the start we were looking for. CBL has been in contact with Wilmar and an update at this stage is as follows:
Invicta Mill
- Commenced at 1.00pm but experienced a shortfall of cane delivery of approximately 3,000t due a loco breakdown which stopped bin delivery.
- It had a reasonable run last night and should make its first sugar today.
Inkerman Mill
- “A” train commenced at 11.21am but experienced problems with tight plates that had not bedded down properly. It also had a governor issue which has been fixed and it is now running ok.
- There is an issue with the ID fan on the back of the boiler which is experiencing significant vibrations and it may have thrown a balanced weight. They have a 3rd party on site investigating and to fix it they will need to take the boiler offline which will entail a stop of 4 to 5 hours.
- They are still trying to commission “B” side feeding station and are pushing through empty bins which have been derailing. They are hoping to fix this, to then test full bins maybe this afternoon.
- If “B” side gets up and running they will run out of cane tomorrow morning.
- They are aiming for a better loading tomorrow.
- In regard to No 1 boiler, in their 3rd steam trial last Thursday they ended up with caustic in the water as a result of a chemical issue with softened water. The level of caustic generated was not as bad as last year and they trucked in 240t of clean water to give the whole boiler a wash. They have advised that caustic is not an issue for them now and there was no overdose on caustic like last year.
- Based on the above, expect some more stops for Inkerman Mill in the short term to fix the ID fan, cane supply and we won’t be at full loading until they get “B” side up and running.
Kalamia Mill and Pioneer Mill
- Wilmar advised that conditions are not conducive to a start and that they are looking to commence harvesting this Sunday and start crushing on Monday.
Wilmar have advised that they will issue a grower update this afternoon on Inkerman Mill. We have asked that Wilmar review their communication protocols with growers to enable growers to be informed about when there are issues with factories.
CBL will provide further updates when we have furthers news to report.
Mill Update - 30th June 2021
Wilmar have provided the following update on the Burdekin Mills.
Reduced loading at Inkerman today due to a late zero hour resulting from a bearing failure yesterday afternoon in the B side milling train. This resulted in a 12 hour stop on B side while repairs were carried out.
All other loadings OK today. Pioneer mill reduced rate overnight to stretch out enough for today’s early supply to catch on after 357 bins were not loaded yesterday due to high winds preventing burning on some farms.
Covid restrictions in Townsville have not impacted operations at any of the mills.
Mill Update - 17th June 2021
Wilmar have provided the following update on the Burdekin Mills.
Inkerman harvesters that are able to cut will continue today up until we are unable to catch the tail going through the mill. The way it looks those groups will get all their burnt cane off. This still leaves about 3,500 tonnes burnt that cannot be harvested for a number of days yet. Some of this cane is now quite old and will have to be tested before we can accept it. Best case for Inkerman is start harvesting on Saturday and crushing later Saturday night.
Invicta will cut about 16,500 today and are looking to load 21,000 tonnes tomorrow. They are taking advantage of the light loading and doing a B side clean.
Kalamia will load about 11,000 tonnes today and about 11,000-12,000 tomorrow.
Pioneer is loading about 10,000 today which should get them through until early tomorrow morning then cut about 8,500 tomorrow.
All weather dependent.
Mill Update - 9th June 2021
Wilmar have provided the following update on the Burdekin Mills.
Kalamia were experiencing some issues with live commissioning of the new milling train control system under factory load conditions. They eventually sorted through these around midnight however upon restart were seeing power synchronisation issues with Ergon. This took a little longer to identify with success earlier this morning. They have lit up and are expecting to resume crushing mid-morning. We still have about 8k tonnes in bins and will allow last day cutters to finish up today cutting 1500 tonnes. That will get us through to tomorrow morning and fresh cane
Inkerman had some boiler issues on light up yesterday before the start of crushing related to the new LP relief venting system. After they started on A side they were experiencing feeding station control issues which again were related to commissioning new equipment under live conditions. They moved onto B side with some success however another attempt to start A side led to the delivery of wet bagasse to the boilers which caused them to shut down. Boiler has been lit and crushing is expected to resume about midday. As with Kalamia, harvesting has been limited to last day cutters. Loading is 4,200 tonnes on top of 6,900 still in bins
Invicta had a stop early this morning with some pan stage stock issues but restarted without issue. Loading is down today at 14,700 as a result of the late zero hour
Pioneer performed well overnight and as a result of some unfilled bins from yesterday had a 7:30am zero hour. They are loading 11,500 tonnes today. They plan on having a short stop later in the morning to inspect the shredder.
2021 Mill estimates & start dates
Wilmar have advised that the predicted start date for all Mills is Tuesday the 8th June to achieve a mid November finish.
The estimated tonnes for the 2021 season for the Burdekin is 7,974,978, with each Mill estimated to crush the following:
Invicta 3,085,290
Pioneer 1,578,730
Kalamia 1,612,308
Inkerman 1,698,650