Wheat exporting competition ramps up as Plum Grove Logistics sends historic shipment from Geraldton Port

A subsidiary of well-known grain trading business Plum Grove has made history after becoming the first company to ship wheat from the Geraldton Port, other than the State’s main grain exporter CBH Group. For more than eight decades, farmer-owned co-operative CBH is believed to have been the only company to export wheat from Geraldton — sending hundreds of thousands of tonnes of Mid West farmers’ grain to international markets each year. Plum Grove Logistics’ milestone 6800 tonne wheat shipment set sail from Geraldton Port’s berth six in the evening of June 17, bound for Indonesia, marking the culmination of more than two years of planning. Plum Grove Logistics director Andrew Young said the trial shipment was the first what the company hoped would be many, with long-term aspirations and potential to one day 300,000t to 500,000t from Geraldton per year. The company was set up about 18 months ago as a joint venture subsidiary of privately-owned grain accumulation and exporting business Plum Grove, which was founded in WA in 2003. The trial shipment was co-ordinated with the help of about a dozen local growers, the Mid West Ports Authority and contractors. Farmers delivered their grain to a private property leased by Plum Grove Logistics near Geraldton, with their grain then trucked to port where it was loaded by mobile conveyor over a two-day period. After departing Geraldton, the ship Hatthaya Naree — flying under the flag of Singapore — headed south to Bunbury to pick up other product before leaving for its final destination at Cigading, in Indonesia’s north west. Mr Young said there had been “several attempts” by other exporters — that weren’t CBH Group — to export wheat from Geraldton in years gone by, but this was the first successful shipment. Countryman understands a small shipment of pulses had been sent by a different private company in previous years. Mr Young said while the trial shipment was of Australian Standard White wheat, used for bread and noodles — Plum Grove Logistics would aim to target “niche marketing opportunities”, with plans to primarily export wheat and lupins It plans to aim for a second shipment during the upcoming harvest, between September and February. “This trial shipment wasn’t necessarily targeting a niche market ... but the long-term focus would be on niche markets and supporting growers in the Geraldton Port Zone with opportunity for lupins,” he said. “There is a lot of work ahead of us to make this a long-term, viable model. But now we know we can do it.” While Mr Young would not reveal the cost-savings for farmers who bypassed the CBH Group system, he said the “asset-light” mobile operation model was both sustainable and efficient. “The current grain exporting systems are under pressure ... and as a result, they (CBH) target 50,000t cargoes to maximise volume output ... and that comes at somewhat of a sacrifice for niche marketing opportunities,” he said. “This is not an uncommon initiative across the country, there are up to 11 mobile conveying systems operating around the country, Geraldton is just one of the last ports where this has been done. “You would anticipate that mobile conveying or asset-light models like this would be a common feature that allows greater flexibility for exporting crops — particularly large crops.” About 90 per cent of the WA grain crop is exported through bulk export to more than 30 countries around the world. Similar models of operation are more common in the Eastern States, with about 11 companies conducting independent shipments across the country. Bunge started exporting from Bunbury in 2014 and more recently independent grain exports have left Albany and Esperance. Commodity Ag — owned by a farming family in WA’s Great Southern — exported its first shipment of grain from Albany in July.