We maintain a 25 per cent interest in sugar refining in Australia and New Zealand in a joint venture arrangement with Wilmar. Under the Joint Venture, sugar is refined at refineries located at Mackay’s Racecourse Mill (Racecourse Refinery), Yarraville in Victoria, and Auckland. This sugar is marketed by Sugar Australia Limited and New Zealand Sugar Company.
The Racecourse Refinery utilises state-of-the-art technology for maximum efficiency and quality product. It has a current capacity of manufacturing 58 tonnes of bulk white sugar per hour or 450,000 tonnes per annum. Specialty sugar production capacity is 22,000 tonnes per annum. This is based on a 50 week year that allows a maintenance shutdown period of between 1-2 weeks per year.
History of our Refining
Following the deregulation of the Australian domestic market in 1989, Mackay Sugar and the sugar refining and marketing firm ED & F Man discussed establishing a refining joint venture (1991), signing heads of agreement in late 1992. The company was known as Mackay Refined Sugars. Contracts were called for the construction of a refinery on the Racecourse Mill site and work commenced on the associated bulk storage and warehousing facilities at Mackay Harbour.
The refinery is built to compete on both the domestic and export markets and is world class in terms of quality and cost competitiveness.
In early 1998, we formed a new refining joint venture with CSR Limited and ED & F Man, known as Sugar Australia Pty Ltd. The venture linked the sugar refining and marketing resources of the partners, including CSR's established refineries at Yarraville (Victoria), and Auckland (New Zealand). In 2004, CSR purchased the Man Group's share of the joint venture.