Viterra’s Port Lincoln and Thevenard port terminals have shipped more than 3.2 million tonnes of commodities this season.
Port Lincoln reached 1.5m tonnes of grain exports last week, while Thevenard passed 1.7m tonnes with a variety of commodities including grain, gypsum and mineral sands.
James Murray, Viterra’s Operations Manager in the Western region, said the large shipping tonnages demonstrated the efficiencies of the Viterra supply chain on Eyre Peninsula.
“Given the finite amount of grain in the region, a single owner, multi-user system represents the best use of resources and economies of scale for Eyre Peninsula,” James said.
“Exporters value our supply chain which reliably supplies grain to meet their quality specifications. This benefits growers, giving them access to pricing from multiple buyers from all major global markets.
Of critical importance is Viterra’s ability to receive the crop at harvest time.
“Last harvest we invested in new bunkers at Rudall, Lock and Arno Bay to be able to receive more grain and support Eyre Peninsula growers in the event of a larger crop. Given the start we’ve had to the season this year, we are closely monitoring production estimates to determine storage requirements for the coming harvest.
“We work closely with Strategic Site Committee Chairs and growers to ensure our business meets their needs.”
James said it was a credit to Viterra employees to move such large amounts of grain from upcountry sites to port in an efficient and reliable manner.
“Our use of rail and road transport on the Eyre Peninsula underpins the supply chain and allows us to efficiently move grain and connect growers with domestic and international customers.
“The Port Lincoln terminal moves about 80% of the region’s grain and is one of the few Australian ports that can load multiple commodities simultaneously into different vessels. As a natural deep water sea port, Port Lincoln is capable of taking large bulk grain vessels to service customers for Australian grain.
“While Thevenard takes less grain, it is actually Viterra’s busiest port also exporting mineral sands, gypsum and salt. 51 ships were loaded at Thevenard in an eight-month period.