Loading grain at CBH Group’s Kwinana terminal. Photo: Mapio

EXPORTERS of Western Australian grain will be able to bid for an additional 600,000 tonnes of 2022-23 (Oct-Sep) shipping capacity for CBH Operations’ Kwinana grain terminal at 1000 local time tomorrow.

The additional capacity brings the total FY23 shipping capacity to 17 million tonnes (Mt) plus 10 per cent tolerance, which is more than last year’s 16.3Mt plus 10pc tolerance.

CHB chief operations officer Mick Daw said the team had been working hard to improve the road and rail performance in order to add the additional capacity, particularly in the Kwinana zone.

“Our road performance has remained strong over the past couple of months, and pleasingly, our rail performance has continued to improve over the past six weeks,” Mr Daw said.

“Our rail provider, Aurizon, has started to get some good consistent tonnes to port, which has given us the confidence to consistently increase the shipping capacity offered to the market.”

“The market is obviously really keen to get as much capacity as they can with current conditions and demand, so this is a fantastic outcome from the CBH team, our road and rail contractors and growers who have helped to achieve this.”

In addition to the extra shipping capacity, the carry-over position has also continued to decrease.

“Due to the team’s continuous efforts and the soft start to harvest, we have managed to reduce the carry position to less than 3.5Mt, and this figure is expected to continue to decrease over the coming weeks.”

The additional capacity will be released in one instance and spread across several tranches over the shipping season, with marketers able to participate for this release through the First in First Serve (FIFS) release.

Supply chain improves

Between 1 October 2021 and 30 September 2022, CBH Operations delivered a record 18.1Mt to customers, with 16.7Mt exported, 1Mt outturned to domestic markets, and 400,000t exported in containers.

These figures surpass the previous annual shipping record set in 2016-17 by 11 per cent and the previous domestic outturn record set in 2007-08 by 8pc.

The Albany, Esperance and Geraldton zones each shipped more than ever before in 2021-22, with Kwinana within 3pc of its 2016-17 record.

CBH said these achievements have been supported by exceptional performance from its road contractors throughout the year.

As well as moving a record 7.2Mt of grain directly to CBH ports, road contractors moved another 3Mt to support rail transport and to help clear sites ahead of the crop now being harvested.

In 2021-22, CBH also set a new record by moving 8.4Mt on rail, a 0.1pc increase from the previous record set in 2016-17.

Source: CBH Group