SOUTH Australian and western Victorian growers had another big week last week, delivering 1.31 million tonnes (Mt) to the Viterra network to take receivals for the harvest to December 11 to 3.87Mt, Viterra said in its weekly harvest report.
Viterra general manager supply chain Derek Robjohns said Viterra was focussed on moving grain delivered by growers to end-use markets.
“We continued to load vessels at our Thevenard, Port Lincoln, Outer Harbor and Inner Harbour export terminals last week,” Mr Robjohns said.
“We also completed our first 2022-23 season lentil vessel which we loaded at Inner Harbour.
“To meet this demand we are continuously moving grain through our network to port, our train movements are at full tilt and we are also using trucks to transport.
“We’ve continued to see strong demand for grain in the Viterra network, with new domestic and export buyers bidding last week.
“This takes the number of buyers who are posting prices and/or have bought grain so far this season to 24, and our record-breaking exporter figure up to 19, offering our grower customers even more choice of who they sell their grain to when they deliver to us.”
Week to Dec 11 | Harvest to Dec 11 | |
Western region | 500,768 | 1,927,509 |
Central region | 518,821 | 1,327,254 |
Eastern region | 287,374 | 611,516 |
TOTAL TONNES | 1,306,963 | 3,866,279 |
Table 1: Receivals into Viterra’s network for the 2022-23 harvest. Source: Viterra
Viterra Western region operations manager Nick Pratt said growers have broken another record for the region.
“Growers have delivered more grain into our Wudinna site this harvest than any other season,” Nick says.
Viterra Central region operations manager Jack Tansley said deliveries into the region picked up last week in its biggest week for the season to date.
“The weather overall was good, however we did see some cooler days which saw growers switch from cereals to lentils or canola,” Mr Tansley said.
Viterra Eastern region operations manager Andrew Cannon said the region was still waiting for peak harvest to hit.
“Our sites are gradually becoming busier as growers start their harvest; our Tailem Bend, Loxton and Werrimull sites and Inner Harbour port terminal have been particularly busy with grower deliveries,” Mr Cannon said.
“While the weather was dry last week, it was still cool, meaning growers weren’t able to start harvesting until later in the day.”
Source: Viterra
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