WEST PERTH, AUSTRALIA — The CBH Group has set new state shipping and rail records for the largest amount of grain moved by the co-operative over a 12-month period.

A total of 15.01 million tonnes was shipped from Oct. 1, 2016, to Sept. 30, 2017, through CBH’s four port terminals in Geraldton, Kwinana, Albany and Esperance. This includes the monthly record of 1.89 million tonnes in January 2017.

The previous shipping record of 13.88 million tonnes was achieved in 2013-14.

There were record rail movements with a total of 8.65 million tonnes moved in the same period, beating the previous high of 8.53 million tonnes that was recorded in the 2013-14 harvest. A new monthly record of 964,832 tonnes was set in March 2017.

David Capper, general manager of operations at CBH Group, said the annual records were driven by the bumper 2016-17 harvest and the ability of the co-operative’s supply chain to meet the high volumes.

“These new records would not have been possible without the hard work and commitment by our regional and port teams,” Capper said. “We have been working on optimizing our shipping volumes for the past few years, and it is great to see our focus in this key piece of the supply chain resulting in a new all-time record.”

Capper attributed the high amount of grain movement to the cooperative’s shipping system and berth utilization.

“More than half of the amount shipped, just over 9.8 million tonnes, was exported between January and June 2017, demonstrating CBH’s supply chains capacity to respond to global demand,” Capper said. “It also proves that our strategy to continue to increase total tonnages available through our shipping system and better berth utilization is capable of handling high volumes.”

Capper said the decision to invest in new rail infrastructure in 2012 had helped CBH to manage increasing volumes while minimizing the cost of getting growers’ grain to market through reduced freight rates.

“We are always looking to provide real value to our growers,” Capper said. “Through our Network Strategy, we’ll be focused on delivering an efficient and optimal supply chain from paddock to port to help our growers compete in the global market.”