Wilgoyne in the Kwinana North zone is one of three CBH bins up for sale. Photo: CBH Group

WESTERN Australia bulk handler, CBH Group, is selling 3, and leasing 10, “non-network” receival sites which the company says are not part of its future operational requirements.

Spread across the CBH network, most of the sites or bins were built in the 1970s and feature storage facilities and non-operational machinery.

According to the CBH listing, the sites up for sale or lease are “no longer suitable for receiving and storing grain” and the cost to refurbish the sites is not considered to be viable for the company.

Most of the sites available for lease or sale have not been used for over 10 years, with 11 sites not open for grower receivals in the past five years.

Only two sites have been opened once in a five-year period and received only 0.009 per cent of total receivals during that time.

A CBH spokesperson said the facilities were being off-loaded as part of a “site retirement process” and are available via expressions of interest (EOI).

“As we continue to improve and develop the network, we will permanently retire ‘non-network’ receival sites as their ongoing maintenance adds significantly to CBH’s cost base, which is not reflective of the limited tonnes the site receives or stores,” the spokesperson said.

“The EOI process is open from 19 July 2022 and will close on 30 August 2022.

“We encourage growers, community groups, local shires and the wider public to express their interest in leasing or buying a site, which will be made safe for public use.”

As part of the 2016 Network Strategy, CBH identified 102 non-network sites which could be leased, sold, decommissioned, repurposed or maintained for use during above-average harvests.

It was later decided that 40 of these sites should be permanently retired.

As this stage no more sites will be retired this year, although a second phrase of site retirements is “one possible scenario out of many”.

Storage investments

The CBH spokesperson said the group was investing in other parts of the business, including focusing on increasing grain storage.

“CBH is continuing to significantly invest in the network so we can increase capacity and maintain a sustainable supply chain.

“Right now, we have over 400 network projects active within our pipeline, with many of these to be completed in the next 12 months.

“This includes building on our 2 million tonnes of emergency storage from last harvest and other projects such as adding permanent storage at Cadoux, Dumbleyung and Shark Lake, an upgrade at the Esperance Terminal, and re-roofing storage structures across the network.

“It’s in line with our strategy of increasing our monthly shipping capacity to 3Mt by 2033.”

This is up from its current capacity of around 1.6Mt.

“Our ongoing investment focuses on key network sites that receive the bulk of the annual harvest.”

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