Tongaat Hulett’s three SA sugar mills are outperforming forecasts at the halfway point of the 2025 season, signalling momentum in the group’s rehabilitation programme funded by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).
Since entering business rescue in 2022, the sugar producer has rolled out a R1.45bn rehabilitation programme, backed by the IDC, to stabilise and modernise its Maidstone, Felixton and Amatikulu mills along with its central refinery, according to the group’s midseason results.
“The latest midseason review shows the impact of our investment. The operational recovery first seen last year has not only been sustained but is gaining momentum, with clear improvements across all key performance indicators,” the group said.
The recovery is making progress at plant level, with Maidstone and Felixton sharply cutting lost production time from equipment failures and unplanned breakdowns, reflecting a marked improvement in mechanical reliability since the start of business rescue.
Maidstone’s lost time has also dropped from 33.5% in 2021 to 12.4%, while Felixton improved from 27.1% to 12.9%, it added.
“These figures represent some of the highest levels of mechanical efficiency recorded at both sites in the past five years. While Amatikulu had a slower start to the season, its performance has improved steadily, showing strong recovery after the first three weeks of operating,” the group said.
Production efficiency is also showing signs of improvement as sucrose extraction and Boiling House Recoveries (BHR) have improved across all three mills, resulting in higher overall sugar recovery.
At Maidstone, sucrose extraction has remained above 95%, while BHR has risen from below 85% in 2021 to nearly 90% this season. Amatikulu’s BHR has increased by almost five percentage points since 2023, with sucrose extraction reaching a five-year high.
Felixton has rebounded strongly, with BHR recovering more than seven percentage points to nearly 90%, while maintaining sucrose extraction above 95%, the group said.
Group CEO Gavin Dalgleish said: “We are seeing strong, measurable improvements across our milling operations, thanks to consistent investment in infrastructure, skills and process optimisation. Our teams are focused on driving efficiency, which ultimately delivers more value to growers, customers and the industry as a whole.”
The company’s value recovery (VR%), a key industry metric, shows each mill meeting or exceeding the 100% benchmark. Mills above 100% are recovering more sugar from cane than the standard industry value, reflecting strong technical efficiency and delivering value for the business and its growers.
The group’s central refinery is also showing improvements, with higher sugar yields and reduced sucrose loss during processing. Improved uptime reflects stronger mechanical and operational reliability, it said.
Ryan de Matteis, chairperson of the Amatikulu Mill group board, said: “The mill has picked itself up and is running ahead of schedule. Over the past years it had a lot to prove, and this season it’s shown real progress. The proof is in the crushing, and they’ve turned the corner — it’s going really well.”
The group said it is in the final stages of its business rescue plan and is preparing to finalise its asset sale transaction with Vision Sugar.
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