Agribusiness & Food

Viterra spends $6M on Port Lincoln infrastructure upgrade

Viterra has invested $6 million into infrastructure at its Port Lincoln site, South Australia, to help the transition to road transport and meet the shipping demands of export customers.

Viterra has invested $6 million into infrastructure at its Port Lincoln site, South Australia, to help the transition to road transport and meet the shipping demands of export customers.

The upgrade aims to help efficiently manage the movement of grain and is part of the company’s goal to provide local growers with a cost-effective and sustainable supply chain.

Three sheds were converted to unload trucks, electrical upgrade works were performed and roads for a new class of high-productivity vehicle were built.

Viterra Operations Manager for the Western region Nick Pratt says the Port Lincoln site balances being a local delivery site for growers with being a key export terminal in South Australia for multiple exporters shipping a range of commodities.

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“We can efficiently load vessels larger than panamax vessels in under three days with loading rates of up to 3000 tonnes per hour, which provides significant value for the industry,” Pratt said.

“We have strong demand for shipping out of Port Lincoln in the coming months with bookings from multiple exporters bound for different export markets.

“Port Lincoln is also a key site for Eyre Peninsula growers to deliver into and the new infrastructure will improve efficiency and help growers deliver more quickly at the site given there is more unloading points and a larger area to operate in.”

Viterra’s $6 million investment into the project is part of its $15 million capital investment at the Port Lincoln site over the past three years. The company expects to inject an additional $3.8 million in 2020.

Pratt said it has been a significant project for the business which has utilised as many South Australian contractors as possible.

“We have a long-term commitment to providing grain storage and handling services to Eyre Peninsula growers including the Port Lincoln terminal and will continue to focus on investing in areas that give our customers the greatest value,” he said.

“Investments at Viterra’s upcountry sites have also formed an important part of the smooth transition to road transport. Our Cummins and Lock sites underwent roadwork upgrades for trucks to safely and efficiently outturn.

“We’ve built an additional 50,000 tonnes of storage at Cummins, and also installed extra equipment at the site as well as at Rudall, to efficiently load grain from silos to trucks.”

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