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CBH harvest intake leaps to 7.2Mt after 3.2Mt week

Grain Central November 18, 2024

The rail line at Canna, between Morawa and Mullewa in the Geraldton Port Zone, has been repaired in time for harvest. Photo: Arc Infrastructure

DELIVERIES to CBH Group from the Western Australian harvest totalled 3.2 million tonnes (Mt) in the week to yesterday to lift the bulk handler’s total intake to date to 7.2Mt.

In its weekly Harvest Report out today, CBH Group said almost 1Mt was delivered over the weekend alone, with growers taking advantage of ideal harvesting conditions ahead of rain forecast for this week.

CBH received more than 500,000t on two separate days last week, and four sites broke daily receival records, and a number of others neared their daily records.

CBH Group chief operations officer Mick Daw said CBH had been proactive ahead of rain forecast for this week, and extended opening hours of sites across the network to ensure growers could get as much grain delivered as possible.

“Rain is forecast across most of the Wheatbelt this week, which will slow or stop harvest should it eventuate,” Mr Daw said.

“CBH wanted to give growers the chance to get as much grain harvested and delivered ahead of this rain.

“Growers in the Albany and Esperance zones in particular took advantage of this, each zone recording their biggest day of receivals for this harvest on Sunday 17 November.”

Mr Daw said CBH was working with tarping contractors to cover as many stacks as possible to protect them from the forecast rain.

“This may result in some services being restricted, although in most cases these services will re-open once the weather has passed.”

CBH has now received 40 percent of the 2024-25 crop-production forecast last month by the Grain Industry Association of Western Australia at 17.75Mt.

Following is a round-up by port zone:

Albany

The zone more than doubled its receivals last week and has now received over 1.3 million tonnes. This is despite a slower start to the week after a weather event, particularly in the northern part of the zone.

All commodities are being received, with the major tonnages being barley and canola.

Wheat has started to come in across the zone, and all sites are now open.

Most sites opened over the weekend, ahead of forecast rain this week.

Hyden broke its daily receival record on Thursday with 9193t to eclipse the previous record of 8557t set in November 2022.

Esperance

The start of the week saw some good tonnages flow into the zone before sporadic weather events once again slowed harvest.

With more inclement weather forecast, growers took full advantage over the weekend to harvest.

Barley, canola, wheat, field peas, and lupins are all now being received, with barley yielding well, and more than 60pc of the expected total for the zone now in the system.

Canola deliveries sit at around 70pc of the expected total, while wheat and pulses are in the very early stages of delivery.

Some high screenings are present in wheat deliveries, and services have been added across the zone to cater for these deliveries.

All sites are now open.

Mt Madden broke its daily receival record on Wednesday with 8130t, up from the previous record of 7643t set in December 2022.

Geraldton

Canola and barley deliveries have started to slow, with wheat now being the major commodity delivered.

CBH Group has introduced utility wheat grades to cater for deliveries with a high percentage of screenings.

All sites across the zone are open.

Narngulu broke its daily receival record last Monday with 13,623 tonnes, ahead of the previous record of 13,619t set in December 2022.

Kwinana North

Receivals have been consistent over the past week, including the weekend, with a number of sites opening on Sunday.

All commodities are being received, with canola and barley deliveries starting to slow, and wheat now the major commodity delivered.

All sites across the zone are open, and the zone had its biggest receival day this season of 129,000t on Friday.

Utility wheat grades have been introduced to cater for deliveries with high screenings.

Kwinana South

After a slower start to the week following rain, receivals picked up to more than 100,000 tonnes per day for most of the rest of the week.

Some weather is expected early this week, which will impact receivals for a few days. Weekend hours were extended at a number of sites to allow growers to get as much grain in as possible before the rain.

Barley is now dominating receivals, followed closely by canola and wheat. Wheat volumes ramped up over the weekend, as most growers moved to wheat prior to expected rain falls.

Some canola segregations across the zone have closed as storages fill, while malting barley receivals have closed in certain locations due to the lack of volume.

Sites receiving AUH2 have been published on the CDF app. Cycle times have been slower at sites positioning grain for port shipping.

Kondinin 2 set a new daily receival record of 5549t on Wednesday, partly attributed to the new auger pit and conveyors recently built at the site, and ahead of the previous record of 5218t set in December 2022.

Canna rail line repaired

Arc Infrastructure has completed track repairs to the freight rail network in Canna in the Geraldton Port Zone.

The repairs were required after a loaded iron ore train derailed and caused significant track damage in July.

At the time of the derailment, Arc Infrastructure’s track teams worked to complete critical repairs, but two turnouts were damaged beyond repair and had to be “straight railed” through to get the track reopened as early as possible, which closed off access to the Canna siding.

“We’re really pleased to have worked with CBH to speed up repairs to the turnouts and ensure the Canna siding could reopen in time for the grain harvest,” Arc Infrastructure general manager works delivery Dan Ellis said.

Source: CBH Group, Arc Infrastructure

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