AUSTRALIA – Australia’s leading grain merchant, CBH Group has invested A$240 million (US$164m) in the network this year to enhance supply chain efficiency, maintain the network and expand storage capacity.
The investment, which is the Group’s biggest ever investment in the network has seen the company add approximately 1 million tonnes of new permanent storage, installed throughput enhancement projects at 36 receival sites and set up 16 new weighbridges.
This forms part of CBH’s ongoing investment into the network to keep fees competitive, increase throughput capacity and efficiency and meet export demand, reports World Grain.
Pieter Vermeulen, CBH general manager of project delivery, said the works completed this year built on the accelerated pace of delivery of network projects in recent years.
“Since 2018, we have added more than 1.7 million tonnes of permanent storage and delivered more than 45 throughput enhancement projects that enables CBH to receive grain faster, meaning reduced waiting times at site during harvest.
“We have worked closely with the contractors to ensure the builds are delivered safely and to the highest quality for the benefit of growers,” Vermeulen said.
CBH has completed the last of the permanent storage expansion projects for harvest, including the largest of this year’s projects at the McLevie receival site.
McLevie has permanently tripled in size with 236,000 tonnes of new storage added through six new open bulkheads, with two new fixed conveyor loading systems that can receive grain from trucks at 500 tonnes per hour.
The site’s total capacity is now approximately 330,000 tonnes. CBH has also upgraded grain in loading infrastructure at more than 36 grain receival sites to increase the grid speeds to up to 500 tonnes per hour.
At its Broomehill site, the company added 77,400 tonnes from two open bulkheads, two Drive Over Grids (DOGs) installed, and an exit weighbridge.
In Cranbrook, 152,000 tonnes were added from six open bulkheads, three new conveyor loading systems and one conveyor loading system upgraded to 500 tonnes per hour.
The Wickepin site now can handle an extra 106,000 tonnes from two open bulkheads and the permanent upgrade of two existing emergency open bulkheads, two new conveyor loading systems, a new truck marshal area and relocation of sample hut to improve traffic flow
The groups general manager operations, Ben Macnamara said the co-operative followed an annual process to identify sites and storage infrastructure that needed to be enhanced to make the system more efficient and to meet grower service expectations.
According to Macnamara, the ongoing investment in the network would provide growers with an improved and more efficient network.
“By adding storage to the network and improving our capabilities in inloading grain we are steadily working toward meeting the increased pace at which growers are delivering at harvest time,” Macnamara said.
