SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — Led by an increase in oilseed crush volumes supported by a third straight canola bumper crop in Australia, GrainCorp reported EBIDTA of A$383 million ($256.6 million) in earnings and A$200 million ($134 million) in net profits after taxes for the first half of the 2023 financial year ended March 31.

While those numbers were down from A$427 million in earnings and A$246 million in profits compared to the first half of 2022, GrainCorp raised its full-year 2023 guidance for earnings to A$500 million to A$560 million (up from A$470 million toA$530 million) and A$220 million in net profits (up from A$180 million to A$220 million).

“Both our business segments — Agribusiness and Processing — contributed to the strong performance, with outstanding operational execution and solid supply chain margins,” said Robert Spurway, managing director and chief executive officer of GrainCorp. “We saw good ongoing demand for Australian grain and oilseeds, and this was supported by a third bumper crop in east coast Australia (ECA).”

In the first half of 2023, GrainCorp handled 34.8 million tonnes of grain, and oilseed crush volumes were 256,000 tonnes.

The Processing segment drew A$103 million in revenue, up 47% from the first half of 2022, with higher canola crush volumes driven by efficiency improvements at GrainCorp’s Numurkah plant in Victoria, and stronger crush margins.

Crush margins were helped by record Australian canola production and strong demand for vegetable oils, arising from global production challenges in key oilseed growing regions, disruption of supply out of the Black Sea region and growing markets in renewable fuel feedstocks.

Oilseed crush volumes were up 10% year-over-year, and GrainCorp is conducting preliminary assessments for the creation of new oilseed crush capacity, seeing an opportunity to build on its strategic position as a leading supplier of renewable fuel feedstocks, including vegetable oils, used cooking oil (UCO) and tallow. GrainCorp is Australia’s largest canola seed crusher, with 500,000 tonnes current capacity across two sites in Victoria and Western Australia.

“As Australasia’s largest exporter of tallow and UCO, and Australia’s largest crusher and processor of oilseeds, GrainCorp is well positioned to play a substantial role in the growing demand for renewable fuel feedstocks,” Spurway said.

Earnings for Agribusiness were down, seeing A$254 million for the first half of 2023, compared to last year’s record A$376 million, but the East Coast Australia, International, and Feeds, Fats and Oils businesses showed strength.

“GrainCorp’s export program ran at close to full capacity with 4.4 million tonnes of grain and oilseeds exported during the half. Export supply chain margins remained solid, albeit not at the levels we experienced last year,” Spurway said. “We are seeing good global demand for Australian grain and oilseeds and expect the strong export program to continue in the second half.