Paraguay sugarcane producers warn Petropar plant's milling capacity is insufficient

Producers in Mauricio José Troche, Paraguay, are facing significant delays as the Petropar alcohol plant struggles to process the daily sugarcane harvest. While the plant has been operating continuously since the harvest began in May, the aging milling equipment is unable to keep up with the volume of sugarcane delivered.

Cristian Fonseca, president of the Mauricio José Troche Sugarcane Producers Association, explained that the old milling train was designed to handle 4,000 tons of sugarcane per day. However, it is currently processing an average of only 2,400 to 2,500 tons daily. This reduced capacity means that trucks laden with sugarcane are accumulating, with drivers waiting for hours to unload their raw material.

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The train doesn't stop, but it's already too small, it no longer suffices.

The definitive solution, according to Fonseca, lies in completing the construction of a new milling train. This project has been halted by a legal dispute between Petropar and the company originally contracted for its execution. The new system is designed to process up to 5,000 tons per day, which would significantly alleviate the current bottleneck and allow for more normal processing of the farmers' production, even if operating at around 3,000 tons per day.

Despite these operational challenges, Petropar has not yet resorted to sending sugarcane to private mills, a contingency plan agreed upon with producers to prevent losses. The plant has processed approximately 160,000 tons of sugarcane since the start of the harvest.

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The most important thing here is that people do not think they will be arrested in court as at the beginning of this administration. These are not the cases that will be arrested there, so show up.