THE FIRST shipment of wheat to supply Interflour’s new mill in The Philippines loaded at CBH Group’s Kwinana terminal near Perth, and will arrive in time for the mill’s final commissioning next month.

Loading of the 71,000t combination cargo bound for Interflour and Intermalt takes place at CBH Group’s Kwinana terminal.

CBH Group owns 50 per cent of Interflour Group, which has built the new US$30 million Mabuhay Interflour Mill at Subic Bay with a capacity of 500 tonnes per day of flour.

“This will be the first batch of Western Australian wheat to be processed at the Mabuhay Interflour Mill in The Philippines,” Interflour managing director and CEO, Greg Harvey, said.

The 71,000t combination cargo will also supply malt barley to the new Intermalt malting plant in northern Vietnam.

“The shipment marks a new phase of growth in our investment in grain processing with operations starting at the Mabuhay Interflour Mill and at Intermalt which will greatly benefit our growers now and into the future,” CBH Group CEO, Dr Andy Crane, said.

CBH Group is Western Australia’s bulk grain handler; it is Australia’s second-largest private company, and Australia’s largest co-operative.

Jakarta-based private equity firm, Salim Group, is CBH Group’s joint-venture partner.  The Interflour mills include PT Eastern Pearl Flour Mills in Makassar, Indonesia with its milling capacity of 2,800t/day of wheat.