Broadwater Mill

Broadwater Mill
Location
Coordinates	29.0118° S, 153.4337° E
State	Queensland
Region	Northern Rivers
LGA	Richmond Valley Council
Details
Established	1881 (145 years ago)
Owner	Sunshine Sugar
Gauge	Road transport only
Annual Crush	Approximately 520,000 tonnes (2024 season)

Broadwater Mill is a raw sugar factory located on the eastern bank of the Richmond River at Broadwater, approximately 25 kilometres south of Ballina in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. The mill commenced crushing in 1881 and is one of three operating sugar mills in New South Wales, together with Condong Mill and Harwood Mill.

Broadwater is the largest of the three New South Wales mill areas by cane-growing footprint, processing cane grown across approximately 14,915 hectares of the Richmond Valley.

The mill is operated by Sunshine Sugar, a 50/50 partnership between the grower-owned New South Wales Sugar Milling Co-operative Limited and the Australian family-owned Manildra Group.

History

Establishment

The Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR) established Broadwater Mill as part of its expansion into the cane-growing districts of northern New South Wales.

Sugar cane had been cultivated along the Richmond River since the 1860s, with numerous small privately owned mills processing cane on individual farms. These small factories generally produced lower-quality sugar and became increasingly uneconomic as larger central mills were developed.

CSR began work on its Broadwater factory in 1879. Land for the mill and associated company settlement was acquired on the eastern bank of the Richmond River, where the factory could receive cane from farms located along the river and its tributaries.

Broadwater Mill commenced crushing in 1881.

At the time of its construction, Broadwater was one of the largest and most technologically advanced sugar factories in Australia. The factory incorporated improvements observed by CSR manager Edward William Knox during a visit to sugar-producing countries overseas, including multiple-stage crushing of the cane.

By the late nineteenth century Broadwater was capable of crushing approximately 900 tons of cane per day and was described as one of the most important sugar factories in Australasia.

The establishment of the large central factory contributed to the decline of many smaller sugar mills operating along the Richmond River, as local farmers increasingly supplied cane directly to CSR.

CSR era

CSR developed Broadwater as both an industrial complex and a company settlement. Housing was constructed near the factory for managers, skilled workers and labourers, while the mill became the principal economic centre of the surrounding district.

The cane supply area extended along the Richmond River and its tributaries, including Emigrant Creek, German Creek, Bungawalbyn Creek and the South Arm. Cane was also cultivated on CSR-owned land as well as by independent farmers.

Broadwater remained under CSR ownership for almost a century.

Grower ownership

During the 1970s CSR decided to withdraw from sugar milling in northern New South Wales.

Growers from the Tweed, Richmond and Clarence districts formed the New South Wales Sugar Milling Co-operative Limited and negotiated to purchase CSR's three remaining New South Wales factories.

In 1978, the Co-operative acquired Condong Mill, Broadwater Mill and Harwood Mill from CSR.

The transaction placed the three factories under grower ownership and created Australia's first multi-mill grower-owned sugar milling co-operative.

Manildra partnership

In 1988, the New South Wales Sugar Milling Co-operative entered into partnership with the Australian family-owned Manildra Group to establish a sugar refinery adjacent to Harwood Mill. The Manildra Harwood Sugar Refinery produced its first refined sugar on 28 September 1989.

The initial Manildra partnership applied to the refinery rather than ownership of the raw sugar mills.

In June 2015, members of the NSW Sugar Milling Co-operative approved the integration of the milling and refining operations. Manildra Group acquired a 50 per cent interest in the three mills, with the combined operation commencing on 1 July 2015 as a 50/50 partnership between Manildra and the Co-operative.

The combined business operates under the Sunshine Sugar name.

Transport

River transport

For most of Broadwater's first century of operation, the Richmond River and its tributaries formed the principal cane transport system.

Harvested cane was carried from farms to loading points along the waterways, where it was transferred into large punts. Groups of loaded punts were then towed to Broadwater Mill by steam and, later, diesel-powered tugs or droghers.

The importance of this transport system reflected the geography of the lower Richmond district. Much of the cane was grown on low-lying floodplain and swamp country where road construction was initially difficult and expensive.

Historical photographs from CSR records show large numbers of loaded cane punts and steam vessels operating at the Broadwater mill wharf during the 1890s.

Broadwater's river transport operation was extensive, collecting cane from locations both upstream and downstream of the factory and from tributaries of the Richmond River.

The introduction of mechanical cane harvesting and specialised road transport during the 1970s made the punt system increasingly obsolete.

Cane transport by river ceased in 1974, after which road haulage became the standard method of delivering cane to Broadwater.

Cane railway

Unlike most Queensland sugar mills and the neighbouring Condong Mill, Broadwater did not develop a mill-owned district cane railway.

Its location on the Richmond River allowed the extensive network of navigable waterways to perform the function that narrow-gauge cane railways served elsewhere in the Australian sugar industry.

The factory therefore passed directly from predominantly river-based cane transport to road haulage during the 1970s.

Road transport

Broadwater now receives all harvested cane by road.

Sugar cane is mechanically harvested into large bins which are carried to the mill using specialised truck and trailer combinations operated as part of Sunshine Sugar's centralised cane-haulage fleet.

The modern transport system allows cane to be transferred between the three New South Wales mill areas when factory availability or seasonal conditions require it.

Approximately 350,000 tonnes of Broadwater-area cane crosses the Broadwater Bridge during a typical crushing season, making the bridge an important component of the mill's current cane transport system.

Milling

Broadwater Mill operates continuously, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, during the crushing season apart from scheduled maintenance stoppages.

Sunshine Sugar lists the factory's current crushing capacity as approximately 270 tonnes of cane per hour and its sugar production capacity as approximately 30 tonnes per hour.

The Broadwater production area covers approximately 14,915 hectares and is the largest cane-growing area supplying any of Sunshine Sugar's three mills.

Broadwater crushed approximately 520,000 tonnes of cane during the 2024 season. Crushing finished on 20 December 2024, with approximately 4,000 tonnes of remaining Broadwater cane subsequently transported to Harwood for processing.

For the 2025 season, Sunshine Sugar initially forecast a Broadwater crop of approximately 550,000 tonnes.

Cogeneration

A biomass cogeneration power station is located adjacent to Broadwater Mill.

The modern power station was commissioned in 2008 as part of a renewable-energy development associated with the New South Wales sugar industry.

The Broadwater plant has an electricity generating capacity of approximately 38 MW. It uses bagasse, the fibrous residue remaining after cane crushing, together with approved wood residues and other biomass fuels to produce steam and electricity.

Steam generated by the plant is supplied to Broadwater Mill during the crushing season, while electricity is exported to the National Electricity Market. The use of supplementary biomass allows electricity generation to continue outside the cane crushing season.

Cape Byron Management purchased the Broadwater and Condong power stations in November 2013.

The two plants have a combined generating capacity of approximately 68 MW, comprising 38 MW at Broadwater and 30 MW at Condong.

2022 flood

Broadwater Mill was severely damaged during the catastrophic Northern Rivers floods of February and March 2022.

Floodwaters from the Richmond River inundated the factory to a depth approaching three metres, the highest flood level recorded at the site. Electrical switchboards, motors, pumps, control equipment, buildings and other plant were damaged or destroyed.

Damage and repair costs were estimated at approximately $25–30 million.

While Broadwater was unavailable, cane from the Richmond district was temporarily transported to Condong and Harwood mills.

After approximately six months of repairs, Broadwater recommenced crushing on 5 September 2022 and ultimately processed almost 400,000 tonnes during an extended season which finished on 24 January 2023.

Subsequent flood-mitigation works included raising electrical switchboards and other critical equipment above the 2022 flood level and replacing vulnerable buildings and storage infrastructure.

Production Statistics

Statistic	Value
Crushing commenced	1881
Crushing capacity	270 tonnes of cane per hour
Sugar production capacity	30 tonnes per hour
Production area	Approximately 14,915 hectares
2024 cane crush	Approximately 520,000 tonnes
Current cane transport	Road
Cogeneration capacity	38 MW

Location

Loading map...