NEWS

The new pressing season has begun, and with the roar of the machines, the sugarcane farmers sing the song of the warm winter of the sugar industry's recovery. Under the condition that internal and external factors are getting better, the sugar market is very worth looking forward to, and the cane sugar production and processing machines are busy. However, there are also problems that need to be solved urgently. Too much reliance on manual labor has caused the cost of sugar production to remain high, and the level of mechanization needs to be further improved.

Market dynamics show good prospects

Since the second half of 2016, China's domestic sugar prices have been rising step by step, and there are obvious signs of a recovery in the sugar industry. Today (2016.11.21) COFCO Tunhe issued a renaming announcement, intending to change the company name to COFCO Tunhe Sugar Co., Ltd. This is the third major action of COFCO Tunhe to focus on the sugar industry this year. As far as the general situation is concerned, the mergers and acquisitions of the sugar industry are also encrypted.

In the context of the recovery of sugar prices, the sugar industry began to turn losses into profits. For domestic sugar companies, in addition to the direct benefits brought about by rising sugar prices, the country's tightening policy on imported sugar has brought a lot of market space to domestic sugar companies. On September 22, 2016, the Ministry of Commerce issued an announcement to file an investigation into the safeguard measures for imported sugar. The Ministry of Commerce will make a ruling based on the results of the investigation. If there is clear evidence that the number of imported products has increased, safeguard measures will be taken. This is undoubtedly a "heart protection pill" for the sugar industry in the marginal period.

Relevant data show that in the 2015/2016 crushing season, China's sugar production dropped to 8.7 million tons, while in the upcoming 2016/2017 crushing season, China's sugar production is about 9.6 million tons, and the domestic sugar consumption is 15 million tons. There is a huge gap between the production of sugar itself and consumer demand, which requires a large amount of imported sugar as a supplement every year. The internal and external factors of the sugar market are good, which undoubtedly ignited a winter fire for the industry.

Cane sugar production and processing machines are busy

In this context, the production and processing of cane sugar has also shown a boom. Whether it is for sugar mills, farmers or the government, this is a season worth looking forward to. The production of sugar cane and sugar in Guangxi exceeds 60% of the national total. It is a veritable "China Sugar Pot". Now, the annual sugar production period has kicked off. The roar of the inner machine will run 24 hours a day from now until next April.

According to reports, from entering the factory to finally turning into white sugar, a sugarcane needs to go through more than 10 stages of pretreatment, pressing, clarification, sugar boiling, crystallization, etc. It takes about 10 hours. We can clearly see that the bundles of sugar cane are first shredded by the tearing machine, and then pressed by 6 presses in turn. The turbid sugar juice squeezed out is sent to the jar for heating and clarification, and the temperature is nearly 100 °C. Translucent syrup in degrees Celsius. After five times of evaporation and three times of sugar boiling, the finished methyl sugar is finally obtained. After honey, drying, and sand separation, the white granulated sugar can be bagged and shipped out.

These are the basic processes of cane sugar processing, but with the recovery of the sugar industry, the comprehensive benefits of sugar cane are gradually being discovered by people. Bagasse replaces coal as fuel, and the generated gas can be used to generate electricity and supply all electricity in the plant. Filter mud is used as a fertilizer raw material, waste molasses is used to produce yeast, and extended products such as flavored syrup, native brown sugar, and medicinal sugar are also being further developed. Whether it is sugarcane harvester, or peeling machine, pre-cooking machine, press, extraction irrigation and other related food machinery and equipment all play a great role.

The level of mechanization needs to be improved urgently

However, when the market is picking up, there are also worries in the sugar industry. Many people may not think that the tens of millions of tons of sugar consumed in my country every year are all cut by sugarcane farmers with one knife and one knife. According to local sugarcane farmers in Guangxi, about 1 ton can be cut from morning to night, and the wages are 100 yuan. In addition, the recovery of sugarcane leaves also depends on manual labor. Four people can recover one car in a morning, and the cost is between 400 to 500 yuan. between. This low-efficiency and high-cost upstream procurement and storage method has become an important reason for the high cost of sucrose in my country.

Although in recent years, my country's agricultural production has been fully mechanized, including the sugar industry, the actual situation is not optimistic. First, due to the influence of terrain, climate, agricultural machinery research and development, etc., it is still difficult to achieve large-scale mechanization in the cutting and harvesting process. Secondly, in sugarcane harvesting and secondary resource recovery, it is difficult to implement mechanization, and the applicability of machinery and equipment needs to be further improved.