• India import duty
• maltsters award
• GrainCorp completes sale of Allied Mills
• AgTech pitch night for CGX

Import duty reapplied to wheat

INDIA this week reinstated a duty of 10 per cent to imported wheat, after changing it to zero in December 2016. The move was widely anticipated, and has been timed to coincide with the start of India’s 2017 wheat harvest commences.

It was said to be motivated by the government’s desire to raise prices paid by flour millers for foreign wheat in mostly southern India, while supporting prices received by farmers towards the minimum support price (MSP) in predominantly northern production states. A 10pc duty was also applied to pigeon pea (tur dhal or arhar dhal), aimed at protecting interest of farmers as prices of pulses fell below the MSP across key producing states.

Source: Bloomberg and Times of India

GrainCorp wins global maltster award

Prize winners at 2017 Brewing Supply Awards presentation in Vienna; Photo Marko Kovic

The 2017 Brewing Supply Awards global championship went to international malt supplier GrainCorp Malt last week.

GrainCorp Malt operates maltings in the United States, Canada, Australia, the UK and Germany.  The win was announced at the World Barley Malt and Beer Conference in Vienna. The conference is held every other year in a European city. Judges cited not only the company’s commitment to sustainability, customer service and quality but also their drive to improve safety at their business units across the world.

“The calibre of the entries into this year’s awards had been very high and it was pleasure recognizing all the hard work of these companies,” brewing raw materials advisory firm, RMI Analytics GmbH, managing director, Dr Christian Temme said.

Taking out the silver award was PMV Maltings, an Indian based malting company with a corporate family history dating back to the dawn of Indian independence. The bronze winner was Netherlands based specialty malthouse The Swaen operating out of their historic facility at Kloosterzande in Zeeland.

The award is judged on inventiveness, ethical credentials, good stakeholder relationships, and long-term planning balanced by the flexibility to deliver consistent results in dynamic market conditions.

GrainCorp completes sale of Allied Mills

GrainCorp said today it had finalised the transaction of the sale of its investment in Allied Mills Australia Pty Ltd.

“GrainCorp wishes PEP/Pinnacle the best for the future and we thank the team at Allied Mills for their years of hard work and innovation. We look forward to maintaining our close  working relationship with them for many years into the future,” GrainCorp managing director and CEO, Mark Palmquist, said in a statement. GrainCorp purchased Allied Mills in a joint venture with Cargill in 2002.

Ag Innovation award to CGX

Clear Grain Exchange (CGX)  bagged the prize pack at an Agtech ‘pitch’ night hosted by Startup Victoria in Melbourne this week.

“Startup Victoria provides us a great platform to engage with people that can help scale our business.” Clear Grain Exchange managing director Nathan Cattle said. “The prize pack will help us build on what we have achieved so far this season. An efficient market place benefits all participants along the supply chain. We look forward to continuing to foster competition for grain at the farm gate and improve grower returns.”

The pitch from CGX swayed the panel of judges against competition from AgriLedger, GoTerra and MimicTec. The host described AgTech as playing a key role in providing innovative technology to the traditional farming industry.

“Technology is a vital element to help agriculture be efficient and globally competitive,” CEO of Startup Victoria, Georgia Beattie, said.

Further details on Startup Victoria events page.