West Australia's 2021-22 grain harvest exceeds 20mn t

Western Australian (WA) grain logistics firm CBH has received over 20mn t from growers during the 2021-22 harvest, with volume records continuing to be broken as some growers are yet to complete the harvest for this season.

"Christmas gave everyone involved with harvest a brief break, but the job is far from done," acting chief operations officer Mick Daw said. "There could be another couple of million tonnes to be delivered, based on the industry forecast. We need to stay focused on getting the remaining crop in safely and efficiently for our growers, clean up sites and transition to out-loading," he added.

Some parts of WA have completed the harvest, including the zones around Esperance and Geraldton where receivals have sharply declined since the beginning of the Christmas break. CBH will keep key primary sites with capacity open and able to receive any remaining harvest.

The CBH zone around Albany has received a record of 4.04mn t over the season. Receivals over the past fourteen days have slowed with harvest bans and the festive season, but there is still more grain to be delivered within this zone, according to Daw. Records continue to be broken, with 14 sites breaking their all-time receival record and seven sites having broken their one-day receival record.

Receivals have continued into 2022 in the Kwinana North zone, which will add to the record-breaking season for the area. Only the major sites across the Kwinana North zone will remain open to receive the remainder of the crop. Similarly, the Kwinana South zone will have a few sites that remain open, that will soon fill and close within the next week.

Activity within most export markets remains quite slow, as international buyers are still enjoying their festive season holiday, with most shipping slots for the first half of 2022 covered by marketers. APW1 wheat was trading at A$380/t ($273/t) free in store (FIS) Kwinana today, with feed barley at A$270/t and canola at A$830/t, and little grower selling at these prices.

Currently the Russian wheat tax is now at A$94.90/t, and based on current values, is likely to increase to A$98.80 for the second half of January, with this emerging Russian wheat proving to be uncompetitive across several markets. This creates an opportunity for Australian wheat in southeast Asian and Middle Eastern markets that are usually supplied by Russia. Historically these taxes do not last, so the window of opportunity for Australian shippers may be short.

By Brandon Gallagher

CBH grain receivals	t
Zone	Two weeks ending 2 January 2022	Total 2021/22 receivals
Albany	710,000	4,040,000
Esperance	155,000	3,475,000
Geraldton	180,000	3,840,000
Kwinana North	505,000	4,970,000
Kwinana South	560,000	4,095,000
Total	2,110,000	20,420,000
Source: CBH