This years record beat the previous one set in 2001-02.
Tim Krause, general manager of operations at Viterra, said the 2016-17 harvest had been the busiest ever with many records achieved at site, regional and state level.
“It has been fantastic for growers and for South Australia,” Krause said. “Both our Western and Eastern regions have achieved new season records with 3.2 million and 1.6 million tonnes received respectively. The Central region has also been doing a mammoth job with receivals at 3.8 million tonnes.”
While the record is a huge achievement, Krause stressed that the job was still not done yet.
“There is still some way to go for growers in later areas who are in the midst of harvest,” he said. “We will continue our large overflow program to move grain from upcountry sites to port and provide extra space for receivals. Yields have been exceeding growers’ expectations and we have been constantly monitoring estimates. We are nearing the completion of building around 900,000 tonnes of extra storage to make sure the crop can be handled.”
Krause also emphasized the importance of grain transportation.
“Shipping is equally as critical during harvest to provide extra space upcountry,” he said. “More than 860,000 tonnes of grain was shipped from Viterra’s ports in December, which is our second largest month on record. We have a further five million tonnes of shipping booked for 2017. These large shipping volumes reflect the high regard exporters have for South Australian grain and our supply chain in order to source quality, consistent and reliable products for their end-use customers.”
Viterra, an agricultural business of Glencore Plc, focuses on handling, processing, distributing and transporting grains and oilseeds around the world. Glencore Agriculture handles, processes and markets agricultural commodities, including grain, oilseeds, pulses, sugar, rice, cotton, vegetable oils, protein meals and biodiesel. The operations span more than 35 countries worldwide and include marketing offices in 34 countries.
