The new Nutrien Ag Solutions facility at Laverton will manufacture a range of plant nutrition, crop chemical, and animal-health products. Photo: Nutrien

NUTRIEN AG Solutions is building a manufacturing facility in Laverton, Victoria, which is set to triple the company’s domestic production capacity.

The site will manufacture fertiliser, crop chemicals, and animal-health products for supply to farmers in eastern Australia.

Nutrien Ag Solutions managing director Kelly Freeman said with increasingly volatile global supply chains, it made sense to expand the company’s onshore manufacturing capability and inject more reliability in the local supply chain.

“As a company that imports products that are fundamental to growing food in Australia, we are always in the middle of someone else’s supply chain,” Mr Freeman said.

“Over the past few years, geopolitical tensions, cost of energy and fuel, shifting global economies, longer shipping lead times, congestion at ports, extreme weather events and labour shortages have all contributed to an increasingly unpredictable supply chain.

Nutrien Ag Solutions national manufacturing manager Cherine Kerbaj and managing director Kelly Freeman. Photo: Nutrien Ag

“Having the ability to manufacture significant volumes on both sides of the country is vital for us.

“That’s why we’ve made the decision to invest in more manufacturing capacity on the east coast of Australia to give even more confidence to our farmers that they will have reliable access to all the key inputs they need to make the most of varying seasons and markets.”

Nutrien Ag Solutions national manufacturing manager Cherine Kerbaj said the facility would reduce the need to transport product from Western Australia.

“We are expanding our manufacturing capacity to support the continued growth of our business and give us better balance between our east and west coast production assets,” Ms Kerbaj said.

“Transporting goods from our plant in Western Australia to east coast customers can be costly and complicated, so it makes sense to boost our capacity on the east coast as well.”

The fit out of the site is under way, with the first line of products expected to commence at Laverton in 2025.

Nutrien Ag Solutions’ current manufacturing portfolio includes facilities in Kwinana, Western Australia and Dandenong, Victoria.

Ms Kerbaj said the plant will produce a range of farm chemicals and products.

“This is a great news story for farmers focused on more reliability, more flexibility and increased production of much needed agri-chemicals right here in Australia.

“The site will produce plant nutrition products and adjuvants, alongside crop chemical and animal health products.

“Given we work in a rain-dependent industry, having more capacity on home soil also allows us to be flexible with our volumes in a far shorter timeframe so we can successfully meet the seasons’ needs.”

Source: Nutrien Ag Solutions