Monday 6 March to Sunday 2 April 2023 report

Growers delivered over 40,000 tonnes to Viterra during March with deliveries split evenly across each of our three regions. This takes Viterra’s total 2022/23 season receivals to over 8.9 million tonnes.

The majority of deliveries to our sites this month were lentils, making up over 50% of tonnes.

Despite deliveries dropping, Viterra is still breaking records with March becoming our biggest ever month of shipping after we loaded over 990,000 tonnes onto vessels across our six port terminals.

Viterra Chief Operations Officer, James Murray says the huge shipping month surpassed the previous record set in May 2011 by over 20,000 tonnes.

“After a record breaking harvest, we’re extremely pleased to be utilising our efficient and effective network to send our grower customers’ grain around the world on behalf of 19 exporters and helping maximise value with strong early season shipments," James says.

“We thank our employees who are working extremely hard to meet the demand for grain from our network and have done a fantastic job to break the record safely.

“It’s also a testament to our truck and rail logistics providers who play a key role in moving the grain from upcountry sites to our ports and are operating at full capacity to help us meet the demand.”

March was also the biggest shipping month on record for our Outer Harbor terminal, with employees loading over 290,000 tonnes onto vessels, breaking the record previously set in 2013.

The record breaking month follows an already busy shipping season which has seen Viterra load over 100 vessels destined for 31 countries, and earlier in the month we also surpassed our three millionth tonne of southern Australian grain loaded onto vessels since the beginning of the 2022/23 season.

Meanwhile, Viterra attended several local and international events to promote the value of South Australian grain and the Viterra network, and provide updates on international markets and the company’s services.

Viterra General Manager Supply Chain, Derek Robjohns presented at the Australian Grain Industry Conference (AGIC) Asia 2023 conference, which showcases the Australian grain value chain to customers in Asia, with an overview of the 2022/23 South Australian crop and the benefits of buying South Australian grain from the Viterra network.

Viterra representatives from across the business attended the South East Field Days in Lucindale, where they had the opportunity to connect with local growers and gain further feedback on the 2022/23 harvest. The field days also provided the chance to promote the company’s ongoing service offerings.

Finally, Viterra Senior Wheat and Durum Trader, Tom Smibert spoke at the Southern Australian Durum Growers Association (SADGA) Durum and Grains Forum, giving growers in attendance an outlook on the international durum market.

We value the opportunity to attend events such as these which allow us to promote grain delivered to the Viterra network and connect with our grower, buyer and end use customers.

Viterra expands sustainability linked financing targets

We are pleased to have expanded our sustainability linked borrowing base facility (BBF) with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), entering a new financing deal.

The $800 million BBF includes a new sustainability target focussed on promoting grower engagement with the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) and purchasing BCI-certified cotton, in addition to Viterra’s original targets.

Viterra Australia/New Zealand Chief Financial Officer – Trading, Ian Ritter says we have set our ambitions higher with the expansion of our BBF after achieving last year’s targets.

“We’re very pleased to have achieved our targets last year and we’d like to thank growers for their participation in the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) which allows us to access key markets and provides sustainability confidence to our customers," Ian says.

“This year we have set our ambitions higher and expanded our targets to include sustainable cotton. It is a timely opportunity to engage with our valued suppliers on sustainable cotton practices and leverage what we have achieved with the ISCC program to help cotton growers to unlock the opportunities for sustainably-produced ingredients and fibres."

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Disclaimer
* This data is subject to variation due to individual site operations and the timing of reports.
** The total 2022/23 data includes grain received into Viterra’s storage and handling network since 10 October 2022.