CBH enters uncharted territory after breaking all-time receival record

Operations Update

 

*Tonnes stated are accurate as of Monday morning, 20 December. 

Last Tuesday saw the CBH Group break its all-time receival record, surpassing the 2016/17 harvest receival record of 16.649 million tonnes with over 18.3 million tonnes now in the system.

Chief Operations Officer Mick Daw congratulated everyone involved with harvest including growers, transporters, contractors, frontline staff and their families.

"Well done to all of the WA growers and a massive thank you to everyone involved with this year's record breaking harvest for their tireless effort, patience and resilience in the face of this exciting challenge".

"A number of sites and zones have broken - and continue to break - their daily and seasonal receival records."

"Prior to this year, there had only ever been five days in history with over 500,000 tonnes received in one day and this year alone there have been 11 days."

"For perspective, we have received over 9.76 million tonnes in the past 23 days, which is more than the entire 2019/20 harvest."

"While the rapid rate of harvest is exhilarating, it does continue to put significant pressure on our sites, services and everyone involved with harvest so please remember to be patient, respectful and take time out to rest when possible."

"We are now in unchartered territory as we continue to receive the remainder of Western Australia's largest ever grain harvest."

"I'd like to wish everyone a safe and Merry Christmas and urge everyone to take a much needed break. Sites will be finishing at lunchtime on Christmas Eve and will be closed on Saturday and Sunday."

"The majority of sites will also be closed on Monday however this may differ between zones so please be sure to use the CDF app to check the availability of services."

We will continue to use the CDF app to send notifications on the availability of services, including temporary and permanent closures. If these closures do occur, the CDF app should also be used to determine where alternative services are available at surrounding sites. If you have any issues with the CDF app, please contact the Grower Service Centre. 

 

Zone Summary

Albany Zone

• The Albany zone had good harvesting weather last week, with warmer conditions seeing 650,000 tonnes delivered across the zone. This is the the biggest week yet in the Albany zone and brings the total to date to 3,330,000 tonnes.
• The majority of growers have now finished canola and moved onto barley, wheat and oats.
• All sites are open and are receiving grain. Over the next 4-7 days there are some sites that will fill and close.
• The average cycle time remains consistent with previous weeks.

  

Esperance Zone

• Good harvesting weather saw approximately 340,000 tonnes delivered in the Esperance zone, bringing the total to 3,320,000 tonnes. 
• Wheat continues to dominate receivals, with barley, canola, lupins and field peas trickling in.
• Minor quality issues are being seen in the known lower quality crops that growers have left to harvest at the end of their programs.  
• Munglinup, Cascades, and Lake King are closed due to filling but have options for delivering grades at the port or neighbouring sites. 
• Cycle times are variable between sites due to accumulations and grid capacity as sites fill, but remain consistent with previous weeks.

 

Geraldton Zone

• The Geraldton Zone has broken its previous receival record of 3,552,000 tonnes with 310,000 tonnes received last week, bringing the total to 3,660,000 tonnes.
• Mingenew became the first site in the network (outside of the terminals) to receive 600,000 tonnes for one harvest.
• The majority of growers have finished harvesting.
• Some sites are closed due to being full and and others will fill and close before Christmas.
• Geraldton zone staff would like to wish everyone a very safe Christmas and a fantastic new year.

  

Kwinana North Zone

• The Kwinana North Zone had good harvesting conditions in the past week, receiving 650,000 tonnes and bringing the total for the zone 4,480,000 tonnes.
• Mainly wheat is being received, with very low tonnages of other commodities.
• Some sites are now full and closed and over the next 7 days we will see many growers finish their programs for the year.
• Cycle times remain consistent with recent weeks.

  

Kwinana South Zone

• The Kwinana South zone had good harvesting conditions last week, receiving 580,000 and bringing the total to 3,550,000 tonnes for this harvest. Harvest bans in the past week slowed receivals a little.
• Mainly wheat is being delivered, although the Avon area is still receiving both canola and barley in low volumes.
• Some sites across the zone will fill and close in the next 2 to 7 days.
• The average cycle time remains consistent with previous weeks.

  

Market Update

Wheat

Wheat market continued to drift lower with APW1 closing last week around the $375 per tonne FIS Kwinana, on the back of lower international values. APW1 have retreated approximately $70 per tonne in the past 14 days which is now seeing growers starting to reconsider their marketing plans with limited volumes being sold. Internationally customers have been a little quieter for the first half of the year with end users mainly covered following an aggressive buying program over the past few weeks. East Coast offers for feed wheat remain very competitive placing pressure on prices out of Western Australia, in addition to a number of South-East Asian customers purchasing Indian wheat to cover their requirements.

Barley

Barley prices continue to soften with limited volume interest from the major Middle East markets with a large percentage of the buyers covered until mid 2022. At this stage South-East Asian buyers have been quiet as they continue to consume their local corn crops. On malting barley, premiums are being seen for Spartacus with values $20 per tonne above feed values. The market has been sourcing good quality Spartacus for both the domestic and international end users.

Canola

Canola markets have also drifted lower finishing last week at $870 per tonne FIS Kwinana for non-GM. Once again the majority of European crushers are covered until mid 2022 and looking to see the Northern Hemisphere crops before committing additional volumes.

Harvest Heroes

Each year, our existing CBH staff are joined by hundreds of harvest employees, and as a team they work together to receive the WA crop as safely and efficiently as possible. We want to highlight some of these harvest heroes who help make our grain supply chain the best in the world, and make harvest our favourite time of year.

Abbey Milne became a permanent Receival Point Operator (RPO) just before this harvest, after 2 years as a casual in the Ravensthorpe area. She immediately took on the huge responsibility of sampler training and sample shed set-up, daunting tasks for someone with experience, let alone a relative newcomer. Jamie Leeson, Abbey’s Area Manager, said that she “absolutely nailed it" and was a huge help to him in other tasks for harvest set-up.  

After this, Abbey shadowed an experienced RPO to learn the ropes at the very busy Ravensthorpe site. Early into harvest, the RPO moved sites and Abbey stepped up and took responsibility for supervising the site. This is despite having no experience with open bulkheads (Ravensthorpe has seven) or many of the other tasks that have to be done on a receival site.

As well as her ability to learn and have a go at anything, Jamie says that Abbey's open but direct communication is one of her greatest strengths. “Abbey sets the tone for the day with her great pre-starts, and always speaks clearly over the two-way so there is no doubt as to what is required.” 

Besides her excellent work performance, Abbey is a brilliant person, and nothing ever seems too much for her. “Everyone loves her - colleagues, growers, truck drivers, everyone who comes on site. She can talk to anyone, giving them the time they deserve and making them feel valued,” says Jamie. “I can’t fault her.” 

It’s people like Abbey who make up our team of Harvest Heroes.

(Abbey Milne, RPO in Charge at Ravensthorpe).