CBH Harvest Report - WA harvest now bigger that the $14.8 million tonnes estimate
- By: "Farm Tender" News
- Cattle News
- Dec 23, 2018
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OPERATIONS UPDATE
This week CBH Group reached its season estimate of 14.8 million tonnes, with operations set to continue into the new year after a delayed start to harvest in several areas.
Growers in the Geraldton and Esperance zones are finishing their programs, with a few sites already closed and more scheduled to close before Christmas.
Kwinana and Albany zones are expected to continue operating at a decent pace into the new year, with Kwinana still expected to break its record for total tonnes received.
“Much of Kwinana zone is still in the full swing of harvest, and with a full shipping program for December and most of January, we are putting measures in place to ensure that we can move grain through the network efficiently, and meet our record shipping demands,” said CBH General Manager Operations, David Capper.
“We wish all our growers and community members a safe and happy Christmas, and best wishes to those still harvesting,” said Mr Capper.
ALBANY
The stop and start nature of harvest in the Albany Zone has continued with further delays as a result of rain last week. Barley is still making up the majority of grain received to date, but the last week has seen mostly wheat being delivered. Quality of barley is good with almost 50% of making malt grades.
As a result of the rains experienced during harvest there has been small volumes of wheat downgraded with feed segregations introduced to accommodate this.
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“The north of the zone is now 95% complete but in the southern and western areas we expect harvest to extend into the new year,” said Albany Zone Manager, Greg Thornton.
“From the CBH staff in the Albany zone, we wish growers a Merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous new year and for those still harvesting, a hassle-free finish to the season,” said Mr Thornton.
ESPERANCE
The Esperance zone has this week ticked over two million tonnes of grain received, and exceeded its estimate for the season.
“Again poor weather early in the week prevented some growers from finishing but overall the zone had a good week. Many of the Esperance zone sites are now closing or will be finishing up before Christmas,” said Esperance Zone Manager, Mick Daw.
GERALDTON
Geraldton zone has had another fantastic week, reaching 3.18 million tonnes, which is well over the estimate of 2.9 million tonne.
“In the lead up to Christmas we will start to close some sites, but there we will still operating in quite a few areas after the Christmas break and leading up to new year,” said Geraldton Zone Manager, Duncan Gray.
“Geraldton zone would like to thank everyone for their continued support and wish everyone a safe and joyous festive season,” said Mr Gray.
KWINANA
The Kwinana zone received 950,000 tonnes for the week bringing the total receivals for the year to 7.4 million tonnes.
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“We are now starting to close sites in the Koorda and Merredin areas as growers finish their programs. We will still have a number of sites open after Christmas and into the new year, and I encourage growers to contact their local Area Manager for site opening hours,” said Kwinana Zone Assistant Manager, Allan Walker.
MARKET UPDATE
During this week before Christmas the market has seen some aggressive buying as the trade and end users look to cover before the Christmas break. There was also good interest from growers to sell tonnes into the strong pricing as CBH receivals surpassed 14.8 million tonnes. Trade is focused on execution with a very strong shipping program continuing through January and potentially extending into February. CBH is likely to do a record shipping program for those months.
Wheat
Wheat selling volumes from growers were very strong this week with the trade looking for Australian Hard wheat in particular. Pricing for Australian Hard hit $425 per tonne free in store early in the week, before coming off to the low $400s per tonne free in store at the end of the week. These sorts of prices have not been seen for some years, reflecting the lower percentage (approximately 10%) of the crop going into the higher protein Australian Hard segregations. International demand was also seen this week as end users look to cover going into the Christmas period, creating a firm market.
Barley
Barley selling volumes are slowing as growers focus on selling wheat into a very strong market. Feed barley remained in the range of $305-$310 per tonne free in store this week with some grower selling. Malt market is still reasonably subdued with premiums of $10-15 per tonne above feed being reasonably common across the malt varieties.
Canola
Grower selling is slowing and reflective in a market that remains in the $575-580 per tonne free in store. European buyers are now preparing for the holiday season so international demand is expected to be slightly subdued as we move into the Christmas period.
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