Mackay Sugar is the largest sugar producer in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

and second largest sugar producer in Australia. In 2013, Mackay Sugar was inducted into the

Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame In 2009 State Library of Queensland, the Queensland Library Foundation and the QUT Business School The QUT Business School is one of six faculties at the Queensland University of Technology. It is home to the QUT Graduate School of Business, a ...

History

Mackay Sugar Limited (MSL) was formed through the merger of the Farleigh,

Marian Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places * Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queenslan ...

, North Eton, Cattle Creek and

Racecourse A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...

(where the company is now located) sugar mill

co-operatives A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

in 1988 and the acquisition of the Pleystowe Mill in the same year. Each has a history dating back to the late 19th century. Over the ensuing two decades following the merger, a number of the mills were closed while a major refinery now capable of refining 450,000 tonnes was built at the Racecourse Mill in partnership with ED&F Man in 1993. Mackay Sugar is now a 25 per cent shareholder with

Wilmar International Wilmar International Limited (); is a Singaporean food processing and investment holding company with more than 300 subsidiary companies. Founded in 1991, it is one of Asia's leading agribusiness groups alongside the COFCO Group. It ranks amongs ...

(75 per cent) in both New Zealand Sugar Company and Sugar Australia Pty Ltd, Australia's largest refiner, purchaser and exporter of raw sugar. In 2012, Mackay Sugar acquired the Mossman Mill, one of the four sites on which it is currently milling cane. The merger and subsequent consolidation of the local industry into a successful modern and progressive company owes much to the vision and leadership of Graham Davies AM who became the company's founding chairman. Significantly, during the merger process, the company honoured its promise that no worker would lose their job. Mackay Sugar, which produces around 800,000 tonnes of raw sugar and 200,000 tonnes of molasses each year, now has the scale to be globally competitive and resilient. It has turnover of approximately $400 million annually, employs over 600 people permanently and up to 1000 seasonally, thus contributing significantly to the economy of Queensland and of the

Mackay Region The Mackay Region is a local government area located in North Queensland, Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas with modern histories extending back as far as 1869. It has an estima ...

in particular. The company has begun implementing a 20 year

diversification Diversification may refer to: Biology and agriculture * Genetic divergence, emergence of subpopulations that have accumulated independent genetic changes * Agricultural diversification involves the re-allocation of some of a farm's resources to ...

plan which, while enhancing its own business sustainability, also benefits the local community and the environment. The first clean, green, renewable energy project of the plan includes, construction of

cogeneration Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elec ...

plants the first of which, recently completed at the Racecourse Mill, now supplies 30 per cent of Mackay's electricity consumption from processing

bagasse Bagasse ( ) is the dry pulpy fibrous material that remains after crushing sugarcane or sorghum stalks to extract their juice. It is used as a biofuel for the production of heat, energy, and electricity, and in the manufacture of pulp and building ...

( sugarcane waste). Other elements of the plan include construction of ethanol plants and a yeast plant. The successful production of sugar in Mackay for nearly 150 years through challenging weather and market conditions, is testament to the resilience and innovation of many generations of local farmers and the region's ideal growing conditions. In February 2019, the German sugar producer

Nordzucker Nordzucker AG, headquartered in Braunschweig, Germany, is Europe’s second largest sugar manufacturer. The production of sugar, liquid sugars and other specialities for the application in the nutrition, beverage and sweets industry as well as ...

announced the acquisition of a 70% stake in Mackay Sugar for A$60 million; Mackay Sugar will also receive an additional loan of up to $A60 million."Nordzucker takes 70% stake in Australian sugar producer Mackay Sugar"
by Thomas Wigglesworth,

S&P Global Platts S&P Global Commodity Insights is a provider of energy and commodities information and a source of benchmark price assessments in the physical commodity markets. The business was started with the foundation in 1909 of the magazine ''National Pet ...

, 8 February 2019

References

Attribution

External links

* {{official website, https://www.mkysugar.com.au/Pages/default.aspx Companies based in Queensland Australian companies established in 1988 Mackay, Queensland