Sugar mills in Fiji
Encyclopedia
Sugar cane grew wild in Fiji
and was used as thatch by the Fijians for their houses (bures). The first attempt to make sugar in Fiji
was on Wakaya Island in 1862 but this was a fianacial failure. With the cotton boom of the 1860s there was little incentive to plant a crop that required high capital outlay but after a slump in cotton prices in 1870, the planters turned to sugar. In an effort to promote the production of sugar in Fiji, the Cakobau Government, in December 1871, offered a 500 pound reward for the first and best crop of twenty of sugar from canes planted before January 1873.
The first cane sugar mill
in Fiji was built in 1872 by Brewster and Joske at the present site of the city of Suva
. By the end of 1874, there were four mills in operation, six by the end of 1875 and ten bt the end of 1878. Most of these mills crushed for only a few years and only a few survived the crash in sugar price of 1884. The surviving mills were Navua Sugar Mill, Panang Mill, Holmshurst (Taveuni) and the Rewa Sugar Company (Koronivia).
The arrival of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company led to the establishment of Commercially viable sugar mills. In 1880, Thurston went to Australia seeking investment for Fiji and persuaded the Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR) to extend its operations to Fiji. The first mill built by the CSR was the Nausori Sugar Mill on the banks of the Rewa River and began crushing in the 1882 crushing season. In 1883, construction began for its second mill in Ba, the Rarawai Mill. Another mill was built at Viria , also on the Rewa River, and crushed from 1886 to 1895. It was closed because it was too small to be viable. In 1890, the Labasa Mill was erected from a dismantled mill in Queensland.
By 1926 all other sugar mills had closed down and the CSR owned the five existing mills in Fiji of which Nausori mill closed down in 1959.
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
and was used as thatch by the Fijians for their houses (bures). The first attempt to make sugar in Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
was on Wakaya Island in 1862 but this was a fianacial failure. With the cotton boom of the 1860s there was little incentive to plant a crop that required high capital outlay but after a slump in cotton prices in 1870, the planters turned to sugar. In an effort to promote the production of sugar in Fiji, the Cakobau Government, in December 1871, offered a 500 pound reward for the first and best crop of twenty of sugar from canes planted before January 1873.
The first cane sugar mill
Cane sugar mill
A cane sugar mill is a factory that processes sugar cane to produce raw or white sugar.- Processing :Traditionally, sugarcane processing requires two stages. Mills extract raw sugar from freshly harvested cane, and sometimes bleach it to make "mill white" sugar for local consumption...
in Fiji was built in 1872 by Brewster and Joske at the present site of the city of Suva
Suva
Suva features a tropical rainforest climate under the Koppen climate classification. The city sees a copious amount of precipitation during the course of the year. Suva averages 3,000 mm of precipitation annually with its driest month, July averaging 125 mm of rain per year. In fact,...
. By the end of 1874, there were four mills in operation, six by the end of 1875 and ten bt the end of 1878. Most of these mills crushed for only a few years and only a few survived the crash in sugar price of 1884. The surviving mills were Navua Sugar Mill, Panang Mill, Holmshurst (Taveuni) and the Rewa Sugar Company (Koronivia).
The arrival of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company led to the establishment of Commercially viable sugar mills. In 1880, Thurston went to Australia seeking investment for Fiji and persuaded the Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR) to extend its operations to Fiji. The first mill built by the CSR was the Nausori Sugar Mill on the banks of the Rewa River and began crushing in the 1882 crushing season. In 1883, construction began for its second mill in Ba, the Rarawai Mill. Another mill was built at Viria , also on the Rewa River, and crushed from 1886 to 1895. It was closed because it was too small to be viable. In 1890, the Labasa Mill was erected from a dismantled mill in Queensland.
By 1926 all other sugar mills had closed down and the CSR owned the five existing mills in Fiji of which Nausori mill closed down in 1959.
List of Sugar Mills
- Suva Sugar Mill - 1872 to 1875
- Selia Levu Estate (Taveuni) - 1974 to 1890
- Penang (Rakiraki) Sugar MillPenang (Rakiraki) Sugar MillThe Penang Sugar Mill in Rakiraki, Fiji is one of the four sugar mills operated by the Fiji Sugar Corporation. The FSC is the sole producer of raw sugar in Fiji.- History :...
- from 1878 - Nausori Sugar Mill - 1882 to 1959
- Rarawai (Ba) Sugar Mill - from 1884
- Tamanua (Navua) Sugar Mill - 1883 to 1923
- Koronivia Sugar Mill
- Holmshurst (Taveuni) Sugar Mill - 1882 to 1896
- Viria Sugar MillViria Sugar MillThe Colonial Sugar Refining Company built a mill at Viria, on the Rewa River, on the southern side of the island of Viti Levu on Fiji. It crushed from 1886 to 1895 and was closed because it was too small to be viable....
- 1886 to 1895 - Labasa Sugar Mill - 1894
- Lautoka Sugar Mill - from 1903