The first road train of granular fertiliser being dispatched from Nutrien’s bulk storage facility in Kwinana on Thursday following the fire earlier this month. Source: Nutrien Ag

NUTRIEN Ag Solutions has announced a broader plan to ensure farmers in Western Australia receive their granular fertiliser for the season ahead, following an industrial fire at Kwinana Bulk Jetty earlier this month.

These plans will include a new temporary arrangement with CSBP Fertilisers which also operates a distribution centre at Kwinana.

A fire broke out at the Kwinana facility on February 9, with 11 people evacuated from the Nutrien site.

Nutrien Ag Solutions region director west Andrew Duperouzel said the incident resulted in significant infrastructure damage which has created a number of challenges for port users.

“The issues caused by the fire are not related to Nutrien’s supply and availability of product, rather the availability of port infrastructure at Kwinana to safely and efficiently offload and despatch,” Mr Duperouzel said.

“The strength of Nutrien’s global supply chain means we have product in our storage and in transit on ships, so our priority is finding alternative ways to get this product to our customers in a timely manner.

“I am pleased to share that the first road trains have been despatched from our facility in Kwinana, marking a significant milestone in our recovery efforts.”

Mr Duperouzel said Nutrien is working to secure a range of alternate solutions to minimise any impact to farmers’ continued access to granular fertiliser.

“We are progressing discussions with all relevant government stakeholders as we look to increase tonnage at our other regional WA sites and confirm additional off-site storage and blending facilities.”

He said Nutrien Ag Solutions has also reached a temporary arrangement with CSBP to address near-term offload, storage and despatch needs.

Mr Duperouzel said CSBP will be receiving and despatching Nutrien’s imported product for two vessels that had been at Kwinana ready for discharge before the fire.

“This commercial arrangement underscores the strength of our partnerships and community, and aligns with our commitment to serve our customers’ needs through this period of disruption.

“The CSBP arrangement is one of a number of solutions we are confirming to ensure growers in all areas of Western Australia have uninterrupted access to our products throughout the season.

“We are also pursuing a surge in capacity at Nutrien’s other existing sites and securing new storage capacity options.

“At a time when supply is front of mind for farmers, I want to reassure all our growers that Nutrien is committed to ensuring farming businesses across the west have access to the right products and inputs not just for this season but in the years ahead.

“We are encouraging growers to forward plan and have early conversations with their Nutrien representative about their input needs this season.

“We have fertiliser on hand or in transit and are urgently confirming new arrangements to receive and despatch these products.”

Source: Nutrien Ag Solutions