Outer Harbor staff Larina Yan, Arnold Kruger, Ray Clifford, Alastair Shields, and Carlo Vassallo pictured with a vessel loading last week. Photo: Viterra

SOUTH Australia’s major bulk handler Viterra has loaded 5 million tonnes (Mt) of grain on to vessels bound for international markets since November.

Shipping from Viterra’s Western region terminals in Thevenard and Port Lincoln has passed 2Mt in total, as have exports from the Eastern region’s Outer Harbor and Inner Harbour terminals, and a further 1Mt has been shipped in the Central region ex Wallaroo  and Port Giles.

The achievement comes off the back of a record-breaking harvest which has seen growers deliver close to 9Mt into the Viterra network to date, the second-largest harvest on record for the agricultural network.

Viterra chief operations officer James Murray paid credit to Viterra’s employees and logistics providers for their role in moving the bumper crop to markets around the world.

“Milestones such as this would not be possible without the dedication of our employees who are working hard to safely and efficiently move grain throughout our supply chain to meet the needs of our buyer customers,” Mr Murray said.

“Our truck and logistics providers also play an essential role in our shipping program. With their support, we have moved over 3Mt tonnes from upcountry sites in the Viterra network to our six ports since the start of the season.”

Viterra has shipped to 33 countries this season including Indonesia, China and Saudi Arabia, and a return customer from Africa.

“We have a buyer from Mauritius who had been purchasing European-origin wheat and has returned to  buying South Australian grain after back-to-back record wheat crops.”

Mr Murray said Viterra was maintaining market access for SA grain through its strong relationships with international end-use customers and its quality focus, and was always working to expand global export destinations for grain.

Viterra has recently opened applications for its export customers to book short-term shipping capacity for the 2023-24 harvest.

“Exporters have booked almost 1.2Mt of extra capacity for the upcoming season; the response to our latest shipping capacity offer has been excellent.”

Prior to the 2022-23 harvest, Viterra released long-term shipping capacity which saw 27Mt, including 5Mt for the 2023-24 harvest, requested over five years by exporters.

“Having over 6Mt of shipping capacity already booked heading into the new season gives confidence
and reassurance to South Australian growers that exporters are ready to buy the grain they deliver into the Viterra network.”

In March, Viterra achieved its biggest ever month of shipping, loading over 990,000t of grain on to vessels across its six SA port terminals.

Source: Viterra