Industry Voices Differ Over Sugar Marketing And Governance Changes

Discussions around sugar marketing and governance have resurfaced following the recent Queensland Sugar Limited (QSL) Annual General Meeting, where proposed constitutional changes prompted differing views between CANEGROWERS representatives and miller members, including Wilmar Sugar and Renewables.

Plane Creek Area Committee Chairman Kevin Borg said that growers across Queensland are “growing tired of conflict in the sugar marketing space.”

Mr Borg said the CANEGROWERS Plane Creek Area Committee, whose members supply Wilmar Plane Creek Mill, were disappointed at the outcome of a vote at the QSL AGM.

As a QSL Grower Representative Member for Plane Creek, Mr Borg spoke at the meeting on 21 October, saying it was time for QSL to “take the gloves off.”

Mr Borg stated that QSL sought to change its constitution to have members’ right to vote based on the amount of sugar they market through the body, aligning voting rights with those who use its services. He explained that currently, millers have a voting right based on their suppliers’ Grower Economic Interest (GEI) sugar – a clause dating back to the single-desk marketing era.

Mr Borg said, “Millers Wilmar and MSF voted down proposed changes to the QSL constitution. These mills market the entirety of their Mill Economic Interest sugar production through their own marketing arms, having no interest in the future of QSL except as a competitor.”

He added, “Whilst we don’t have an issue with these millers using their own marketing arm, it remains an issue that they refuse to have their right to vote based on present day throughputs and not based on a constitution that was fit for the past regulated, non-competitive era.”

“As competitors to QSL, this gives them control within the QSL organisation and an opportunity to white-ant the organisation from within,” Mr Borg said.

He commended millers who supported the proposed constitutional vote, adding, “I commend those Millers – Mackay Sugar, Bundaberg Sugar and Isis Sugar – who supported the vote and have shown common sense and a willingness to work with industry.”

Mr Borg further stated,“STL has already gone down the path of removing QSL as Bulk Sugar Terminal Operator as of 30 June 2026, giving STL a monopoly control of Queensland’s sugar terminal ownership and operations.”

Mr Borg said, “Lack of investment in our mill is also a thorn in growers’ sides, causing longer season lengths and thus reduced crops, this being a root cause of growers choosing leaving the industry.”

In response to Mr Borg’s comments, a Wilmar Sugar and Renewables spokesperson stated that, “Half of the miller members did not support QSL’s proposed constitution changes, including Wilmar.

“QSL members have rights to influence only a small number of governance matters. Importantly, these voting rights do not provide strategic or operational control of QSL’s marketing activities.

“Under the sugar industry regulatory framework, all millers are – and will remain – inextricably linked to QSL in its role as a marketer, irrespective of their marketing decisions.

“It’s important for miller members to retain their limited voting rights to protect their legitimate interests as supply chain participants.

“Wilmar does not have a controlling interest in Sugar Terminals Limited (STL).”

Both CANEGROWERS and Wilmar have reiterated their commitment to the long-term sustainability of Queensland’s sugar industry, despite differences in opinion on how marketing structures and governance should evolve.

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