Australian grain exports rise with mobile shiploaders

The Australian grain industry is investing in mobile shiploaders with a loading capacity of 200-400 t/hour, which could increase the nation's export volume by more than 1mn t/yr. This would relieve bottlenecks and deliver another bumper harvest to seaborne grain markets.

Australia is looking at producing another bumper crop in 2022, with winter crop production forecast to be the fourth-highest in record at 51mn t, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (Abares). But with storage almost full and strong seaborne grain prices, traders are looking to mobile shiploaders to circumvent bottlenecks at the three major exporters.

A mobile shiploader allows an operator to directly unload trucks in the port or inland terminal onto a ship, to eliminate the double-handling and storing of materials such as grain.

The bulk commodity terminals are largely controlled by three major grain aggregators — CBH in Western Australia, GrainCorp in New South Wales and Queensland, and Viterra in Victoria and South Australia — and are fully booked. CBH has no spare capacity to load grain at any of its four ports for over a year. GrainCorp has a total 50,000t between the two ports of Gladstone and Portland, and Viterra has no availability at Adelaide.

Australian grain exports hit a high for the year in June, with 3.37mn t exported, up from 3.05mn t in May, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Total Australian grain exports over the marketing season of October 2021 to June 2022 was 27.2mn t, a 10pc increase from the previous year, because of mobile shiploaders, transhipping of grains using barges and increased exports from alternative ports. The port of Mackay, for example, broke a decade-long record to mark its largest export volume, with 3.6mn t of exports for 2021-22. There was a 400pc increase in the port of Mackay's grain export volumes to 300,000t, from 60,000t the previous year.

Transport and logistics companies are struggling with recruitment as the industries' workforce is ageing dramatically. The average age of truck drivers in Australia is 43 years, according to the Queensland Trucking Association (QTA). But alternatives are emerging with the increasing use of train haulage, which is more competitive in a high diesel price environment.

Queensland rail haulage firm Aurizon significantly increased its grains business through its acquisition of OneRail in July. It plans to expand its grains business and is particularly focused on export opportunities, as this has been its business model for its original coal haulage business. It has the rail haulage contracts for CBH and Viterra, and plans to use the rail fleet from its coal operations in New South Wales and Queensland to increase its grain haulage in these states.

The Australian grain export industry is currently volatile because of fluctuating grain production volumes, grain prices and annual rainfall. Farmers are focusing on improving farm storage capacity and understanding what is needed to store grain for long periods of time without a downgrade in quality resulting from long wait periods to export the grain. Grain can be stored either by silo, grain bunkers/sheds or grain bags (sausage/harvest bags). All methods pose risks, such as difficulties in carrying out effective checks for storage pests and conditions such as grain temperature and moisture.

Traditional storage and logistical techniques for farmers and grain traders include double-handling, on-farm storage, trucking or rail to ports, and storage at bulk commodity terminals before being transported to ports and loaded on ships to be exported to global markets. Australian exports should be better able to respond to fluctuations in harvest and export volumes by using large scale on-farm storage and mobile shiploaders, which can be easily moved in response to the varying weather conditions across the large nation.

By Jessica Clarke