6 April 2005: International Furan Technology (IFT) updates on progress at Proserpine. From ABC News:

It is hoped a multi-million dollar value-adding venture at Proserpine sugar mill will start operating during next year’s crushing season.

The mill has just been allocated $2.8 million in federal funding to fine tune production of the sugar by-product furfural.

General manager Chris Connors is confident the application of technology from a successful trial in South Africa will help the plant become the most efficient in the world.

“Two point eight million dollars is definitely a good start from the Government,” he said.

“We’re looking for more out of them, though.

“The actual project’s worth about $23 million, so that’s a big call on a small co-op like ours, but at a time when the industry can’t rely on sugar as it’s only income stream, we’ve got to look to other alternatives.”