Band 9: The diagram below shows the manufacturing process for making sugar from sugar cane. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The diagram illustrates how sugar is manufactured from sugar cane.

Overall, sugar production is a straightforward, seven-stage sequence that begins with cultivation and harvesting and culminates in the refinement of sugar crystals for human consumption.

At the beginning of the process, sugar cane is typically cultivated for 12 to 18 months until it reaches maturity, at which point it is either harvested mechanically using a harvester or cut manually with sickles before being transported for crushing. Afterwards, the stalks of harvested sugar cane are transferred to a crushing machine to extract juice. The liquid is purified through a limestone filter, removing impurities.

Following this, the clarified juice is heated in an evaporator, which thickens into syrup. It is subsequently placed in a centrifuge, where centrifugal forces are applied to separate the sugar crystals from the remaining liquid. Ultimately, the crystals are placed in a drying and cooling chamber, where they are processed into refined sugar, ready for packaging and commercial distribution.