KTM Sugar Factory Begins First Sugarcane Crushing of the Year

An achievement which is welcomed by the company, because it has a strong desire to reduce its dependency on imported sugar. By starting to mill sugar cane this year, the KTM sugar factory hopes that it can make its own contribution to the nation and state.

“The KTM Sugar Factory only did its first sugar cane milling in 2017, previously it was still carrying out tests. The KTM Sugar Factory has a capacity of 12,000 tcd (tons of cane per day),” said the Director of Operations of the KTM Sugar Factory, Agus Susanto, on Wednesday (12/7/2017).

“We very much welcome the hopes of Regent Fadeli to increase sugar cane production to 100 tons per hectare, and we will help the sugar cane farmers in the Lamongan Regency,” he continued.

Agus then explained that, up until now, the KTM Sugar Factory has been receiving sugar cane not only from Lamongan, but also from several surrounding cities. Starting from the Tuban region to Bojonegoro, although he admitted that it prioritizes local sugar cane farmers from the Lamongan Regency.

According to the data released by the Lamongan Regency Government, in 2016 the sugar cane harvest in the Lamongan Regency reached 4,952 hectares, with total production reaching 308,145 tons with a rendement still in the range of 6.5 percent. Meanwhile, the number of sugar cane farmers in Lamongan, was recorded as being 7,428 people.

On a previous occasion, Lamongan Regent Fadeli who attended the People's Sugar Cane Harvest Partnership Milling Season of the Kebun Tebu Mas Sugar Factory in the Sumbersari Village, Sambeng District, Lamongan, on the same day declared that he hoped that sugar cane production which up until now had only reached an average of 62.2 tons per hectare could be increased to 100 tons per hectare.

“We must not only be satisfied with sugar cane production of 62.2 tons per hectare. I hope that the Kebun Tebu Mas Sugar Factory will provide for the sugar cane farmers so that they can increase their sugar cane production to reach 100 tons per hectare. One of the ways that the production can be increased is by using a superior breed of seedling,” said Fadeli.

After attending the harvest with the local Forkopimda, Fadeli and his entourage took the opportunity to directly examine the scales, core sampling, and sugar cane crusher (tipper).

“With the presence of the KTM Sugar Factory, with its multiplier effect, I hope that the prosperity of the people can be increased, especially that of the sugar cane farmers in the Lamongan Regency," Fadeli hoped.

"The use of workers from Lamongan, the many stores that have started to open close to the factory, the houses that are being used as boarding houses for KTM employees, and the increasing price of land around the factory. I hope that the benefits that are provided do not stop there, whether on the scale of Lamongan or nationally.”

The sugar factory KTM produces 30 percent raw sugar of its total volume, 40 percent white crystal sugar, and the rest in the form of refined crystal sugar for pharmaceuticals. The 350 million US dollar investment, most of which is used to buy land and machinery.