Nordzucker Post 5/2026 - 23 July 2026

Crush 2026 started: Mackay Sugar has started processing sugarcane

Our Australian subsidiary, Mackay Sugar, began processing sugarcane (the crush) in June.

For the current crush, Mackay Sugar expects to process a similar volume of sugarcane to last year. In the previous financial year 2025/2026, around 4.8 million tonnes of sugarcane were processed and approximately 625,000 tonnes of sugar were produced.

This year’s crush was initially disrupted by a cyber-attack on Mackay Sugar’s IT systems. However, by the end of June, all three mills in Farleigh, Marian and Racecourse had resumed sugarcane processing.

During the maintenance phase, extensive measures were implemented at the three sites to further improve plant availability. These included, amongst other things, upgrades to boilers, heat exchangers, pipework and turbines. In addition, 140 new wagons for transporting sugarcane were purchased and put into service.

The sugarcane business remains a key component of Nordzucker’s Fields for Growth strategy. Since acquiring a stake in Mackay Sugar in 2019, the company has been operating profitably and is helping to make Nordzucker less dependent on fluctuations in the European sugar market. At the same time, investment and excellence programmes are being consistently pursued at the three Australian sites in order to continue reducing costs, increasing plant availability and optimising processes.