Mossman Central Mill is the northern most of the 28 mills situated throughout the east coast of Australia. The mill employs approximately 90 people during the crushing season and approximately 60 during the “off season”.

The mill currently has a capacity of approximately 800,000 tonnes of cane which produces approximately 105,000 tonnes of raw sugar. The raw sugar is transported to Cairns by road where it is deposited at the bulk sugar terminal. Between the months of June and November, the 40 tonne sugar trucks will make approximately 2,600 return trips to Cairns.

Sugar produced by most Queensland mills is refined before it can be used. The refining process removes the impurities from the sugar, improving it to a food grade standard suitable for human consumption.  Approximately 80% of Australia’s sugar is exported as a raw product.

Mossman mill has recently upgraded the 'back end' of the factory to food grade standards and installed a bagging plant.   This has allowed the factory to produce a food grade raw sugar. 

The mill can process approximately 360 tonnes of cane per hour. To maintain this level, between 30 and 40 bins of cane must be tipped each hour.

Sugar cane is a perishable commodity and is best processed within 18 hours of harvest.  The mill boilers generate approximately 5.8 megawatts of power per hour. This is more than enough to power the whole plant. Excess power is exported back into the town supply.

The mill boilers are fuelled by bagasse, which is the
fibrous residue from the milling process. Over a 22
week crushing season, the boilers burn approximately 350,000 tonnes of bagasse.

At full capacity, the boilers heat approximately 4 tonnes of water per minute.  Mill mud is a nutrient rich by-product of the milling process. It consists of soil and impurities contained in the harvest, mixed with ash from the boilers.

It is sold back to the farmers and spread on the newly harvested paddocks as an alternative form of fertilizer. Two mud trucks operate around the clock during the crushing season, removing approximately 70,000 cubic metres of mill mud.

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