The largest sugar company in New South Wales is seeking $27 million dollars in government assistance after being devastated by the floods earlier this year.
Sunshine Sugar, which makes up the majority of the NSW sugar industry, has three mills and a refinery across the Northern Rivers, all of which were hit by floodwaters.
"We're being told by the contractors at [the] Condong Mill it'll be fine. We should be ready to go by the first or second week of June," Sunshine Sugar chief executive Chris Connors said.
"The Harwood Mill is probably going to be ready in about a week or so too."
However, the sugar mill at Broadwater was the worst hit.
"At the [Broadwater Mill], there is about $30 million worth of damage in there," Mr Connors said.
"It's also the area that has been hit the hardest from a crop perspective."
Mr Connors said the company had been discussing ways to help growers in the region, as he did not expect the Broadwater Mill to be open until late July or early August.
"We've been moving cane from growers [in Broadwater] to the other two mills right from the start till [Broadwater] is up and going again," he said.
The damage bill grows
To keep their sugar refinery facility at Harwood operating, the company is importing sugar from Northern Queensland.
"We're going import some sugar down from Bundaberg," Mr Connors said.
"It'll keep the place running and our employees at work."
However, the move will cost Sunshine Sugar about $3 million.
Mr Connors said the company did have insurance, but they had encountered some challenges.
"It's yet another expense, and at the end of the day, we need assistance, and we've been talking to the government about that."
The Commonwealth government announced a $50 million bespoke package for major employers in key industries in the Northern Rivers region.
"They said that a major employer is a business with over 300 employees," Mr Connors said.
"Well, we're well over that. We're getting close to 500."
Mr Connors said they had applied for financial assistance and were confident they would receive some funding.
Growers feeling the effect
Kevin Twohill is a director at Sunshine Sugar and owns a cane farm at Tumbulgum, South of Tweed Heads.
The floods in March had a devastating impact on his enterprise.
"My son lives on the property … he lost all his vehicles. We had tractors that we've written off," he said.
"Some parts of the crop look good, but in the lower areas, that's where the real devastation is.
"It's just been continuously inundated with water. Even in last week we've had 170 millimetres of rain."
Mr Twohill said he planned to start harvesting later this month, but wet conditions would be challenging.
"If the mill is ready and the dry weather continues, and the ground is dry enough to harvest, we will begin harvest on the 20th here at Condong," he said.
"But we need everything in our favour, and there is still a lot of debris in that cane."
He is hoping they will come out of this difficult period soon.
