Logistics

Viterra Port Lincoln loads 1Mt of grain and counting since Nov

Grain Central, April 14, 2020

The barley loaded on to the MV Soroco at Port Lincoln included the millionth tonne which the Viterra terminal has loaded on to vessels since November. Photo: Viterra

VITERRA’S Port Lincoln terminal last week loaded its millionth tonne of grain in the current-crop shipping period which started in November and is servicing domestic and international markets.

The milestone was part of a 56,000t cargo of barley now heading to Ningbo, China on board the MV Soroco.

“We are experiencing continuous demand for grain from the Viterra system and outturning through all of our supply chains,” Viterra chief operations officer James Murray said.

Across South Australia, Viterra has out-turned more than 2.5Mt of grain since October.

“There are around 40 buyers in the Viterra system purchasing grain for a number of domestic and international markets which gives growers the benefit of having greater options when they choose to sell their grain.

Last month was Viterra’s busiest of the shipping season, with 442,000t of grain loaded on to vessels at its Port Lincoln, Thevenard, Port Giles and Wallaroo terminals.

The natural deep-sea port at Port Lincoln is a key export terminal in South Australia, with multiple exporters shipping a range of commodities to domestic and international destinations.

“Our Port Lincoln terminal can load around 75,000t on to a vessel in three days with loading rates of up to 3000t per hour.”

Viterra has spent $15 million on its Port Lincoln site over the past three years, and plans to spend a further $3.8M there this year.

To service interstate demand, Viterra also last month loaded two 100-wagon trains for the first time, with wagons for each train split across three different sites so they could be loaded simultaneously.

“These trains were effectively double the size of a typical rail movement.

“We are out-turning by road and rail to more than 100 different end-use destinations across the country, plus we have a large number of train movements transporting grain from our up-country sites to port terminals for shipping.”

Viterra’s modes of out-turning include road movements and container packing, and all are in full swing.

In Viterra’s latest monthly receival report, the company said it has taken delivery of 7291t, with lentils in the eastern region making up the majority of the tonnage.

Receivals 2 Mar-5 Apr Total receivals since 1 Oct
Western region 521 1,586,640
Central region 577 1,654,990
Eastern region 6193 730,893
TOTAL TONNES 7291 3,972,523

Source: Viterra

 

 

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