Daintree Bio Precinct and Mossman Mill to be wound up after mystery investor fails to materialise

Despite there being some hope for Australia’s northernmost sugar mill, events have taken a devastating turn. Find out the latest.

Mossman Mill, established in 1984, has proved to be unviable with administrators advising on March 22 its parent companies would be wound up.

Australia’s northernmost sugar mill has gone bust despite an eleventh hour state government package and interest from an investor.

Mossman Mill, which has had more than $70m taxpayer funding ploughed into it, went into administration in November.

In late February, the state government handed it $12.1m to either help potential buyers or help the community transition away from sugar milling.

Happier days: Former Douglas Shire Mayor Julia Leu, Federal Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch and Far Northern Milling director Maryann Salvetti celebrate a whopping federal injection of funds into the Mossman Mill in 2019.

Administrator John Goggin, of Cairns company Worrells, said in a statement the parent company of the historic mill, Daintree Bio Precinct, and associated companies Far Northern Milling, Far Northern Infrastructure, and Daintree Bio Enterprises would be wound up.

Daintree Bio Precinct is owned by cane growers, who say they’ve invested $24m in this year’s crop.

It was bought in 2019 from Mackay Sugar, which intended to shut it down.

Mr Goggin said at the second creditors’ meeting on February 29, it was resolved to accept a proposal for a deed of company arrangement but the proponents had advised they didn’t have the funds.

Mr Goggin had until March 20 to finalise a deed of company arrangement after creditors accepted a proposal from Clever Power at a meeting on February 29.

Former Far Northern Milling Directors, Rajinder Singh, Maryann Salvetti, Don Murday and Liza Giudice

“Throughout the extended administration I have been conscious of the impact this appointment and uncertain future for the companies has had on everyone involved and the wider Mossman community,” Mr Goggin said in a statement.

He said he’d held extensive consultation with stakeholders and all levels of government over the future prospects of the mill over the past four months.

About 50 Mossman and Douglas Shire residents held a demonstration out the front of a community cabinet meeting in Cairns last month, advocating for the government to step in and offer the Mossman mill a lifeline. It prompted Premier Steven Miles to announce a $12.1m package. Picture: Supplied

“I have overseen the trading the mill and preserving and protecting the assets, including notably the completion of the 2023 cane crush season and post crush maintenance, dealing with the impacts of Cyclone Jasper and subsequent flooding, investigations into the affairs of the companies, and engagement with interested parties in an effort to formulate a restructure of the group,” Mr Goggin said.

He said only one party - Clever Power - submitted a viable expression of interest.

Transporting cane from the Tablelands to the mill via road was one of many challenges Mossman Mill faced. Picture: Supplied

Matt Watson, Mossman chair of peak body Canegrowers said in an earlier statement there was a “mystery investor swooping in to save the mill just hours before it was due to be liquidated”.

It said crushing over the next four seasons would be guaranteed.

“We were told a private investor was willing to put money on the table to save the mill,” Mr Watson said.

“Clever Power and the investor would take on the mill and guarantee crushing for at least the next four seasons as they worked to improve and increase production and make the mill more stable before looking to diversify into value-adding opportunities in the energy field.”

The administrator had 15 days from the February 29 meeting to negotiate a deed of company arrangement.

Sugar industry lobby group Canegrowers described liquidation of the Far North Milling as a devastating blow for the town of Mossman and a mystery investor pulling the plug on plans to purchase the mill effectively meant the end of an era.

“It’s heartbreaking, not just for growers and the local sugar industry, but for the whole Mossman community,” Canegrowers Mossman chairman Matt Watson said.

Attention now turns to supporting farmers who have invested heavily in next year’s crop that now may never being harvested.

Chief executive Dan Galligan said Canegrowers is now calling on the state government to honour a commitment to provide $12.1m in funding to support workers and farmers.

“Growers have already invested more than $14m into this year’s crop and the harvest is rapidly approaching,” he said.

“We need the government to come through on its funding commitment so that growers can recoup as much of that money as possible, otherwise a lot of families and businesses in the town will go to the wall.

“This is not just about growers getting paid, it’s also about mill workers, suppliers, tradies, businesses of all shapes and sizes, right across the region.”

Mossman Mill, which has 150 direct workers, crushed 380,000 tonnes of cane in 2023, but had the potential to rush one million tonnes.

Since 2012, Mossman Mill, located about an hour north of Cairns, has received $25m in state government funding and $34.43m in federal funding, along with $250,000 from Douglas Shire ratepayers for growers to acquire the mill.

Workers are owed $1.2m as unsecured creditors.

Originally published as Daintree Bio Precinct and Mossman Mill to be wound up after mystery investor fails to materialise