ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA — Viterra Australia loaded over 990,000 tonnes of grain onto vessels across its six port terminals in March, the company’s biggest shipping month ever, topping the May 2011 mark by over 20,000 tonnes, the company reported.

The record-breaking month follows an already busy shipping season that has seen Viterra load over 100 vessels destined for 31 countries, and earlier in the month surpass 3 million tonnes of Southern Australian grain loaded onto vessels since the beginning of the 2022-23 season.

“After a record-breaking harvest, we’re extremely pleased to be utilizing our efficient and effective network to send our grower customers’ grain around the world on behalf of 19 exporters and helping maximize value with strong early season shipments,” said James Murray, chief operations officer for Viterra. 

In its April 3 receivals report, Viterra said growers delivered more than 43,000 tonnes of grain to the company during March, over 50% being lentils, with deliveries split evenly across each of its three regions. This takes Viterra’s total 2022-23 season grain receivals to over 8.9 million tonnes in a year that is projected to be Australia’s third straight bumper grain crop.