June 25, 2009
West Australia''s CBH unveils grain shipping allocation plan
A new system for allocating grain vessel berths in Western Australia designed to avoid the port congestion seen earlier this year was unveiled Thursday (June 25) by monopoly logistics concern Cooperative Bulk Handling Ltd.
The system provides full operational flexibility for the more than 20 licensed wheat exporters and creates a more efficient and coordinated approach to allocating berths for grain vessels, Tim Collins, CBH'' logistics manager, said in a statement.
"It provides fair and equitable access to all market participants, including those seeking direct port access and aims to ensure a sustainable and efficient grain supply chain," he said.
At some stages early this year, more than 20 vessels were waiting to load grain from CBH''s four export terminals in Western Australia, frustrating exporters, hiking demurrage costs and sparking concerns from overseas buyers about reliability of supply from the state.
The long delays in loading vessels reflected the impact of a newly deregulated system of wheat exports, a sharp increase in the number of exporters wanting to ship at the same time, a rain delayed harvest and upcountry transport bottlenecks, CBH said.
Under the new system, two distinct shipping periods have been identified, namely a harvest shipping period between Nov. 1 and Jan. 15, which will operate under an expression of interest framework, and an annual shipping period between Jan. 15 and Oct. 31 whereby shipping slots at ports will be auctioned and a secondary market for these slots established.
"This system aims to ensure allocation is driven by supply and demand without increasing the cost of the grain supply chain for growers or exporters," Collins said.
Western Australia is a major source of globally traded wheatand barley.
