Viterra’s Port Lincoln terminal is heavily booked, and recently had two vessels on the berth at once. Photo: Viterra

RECEIVALS into Viterra’s South Australian network have passed 5.8 million tonnes (Mt) for the harvest to date following intake of 41,201t of grain between 11 January and 31 January, the company said in its Monthly receivals report.

Viterra operations manager Michael Hill said the 2020-21 harvest had come to an end, with grain from on-farm storages now making up the majority of deliveries.

“While site receivals have slowed, we have continued out-turning grain at a steady pace to meet our export demand,” Mr Hill said.

“Our ports have been busy with back-to-back vessel bookings and our Port Lincoln terminal recently had two vessels at berth simultaneously.”

Mr Hill said growers delivering to Viterra were benefitting from multiple exporters operating within its system and sending grain to various destinations.

“The solid shipping schedule will continue until May with strong demand for South Australian grain from the Viterra network.”

Mr Hill said the business’ focus has also turned to reviewing its 2020-21 harvest operations and planning for the next harvest.

“We recently had our annual postharvest survey which we use each year to gain valuable feedback from our customers.

“This year we opened a survey for carriers as well as growers to provide their feedback.

“We will now review responses, talk through regional results with our Strategic Site Committees and make note of what went well and where we can improve in the future.”

Table 1: Deliveries into Viterra’s South Australian network and two Victoria sites for the 2020-21 harvest to 31 January.

Source: Viterra