ONE of the world’s largest grain traders, Louis Dreyfus, has slowly started with a small team of regional representatives to acquire grain direct from the farmer, and this year will be active in a range of markets across Australia.

Despite trading here since 1913, the company has been content to keep a low profile, mainly filling its needs through purchasing from the trade in the days of the single wheat export desk, rather than direct from the farmer.

Today, Louis Dreyfus is an active buyer of wheat, barley, sorghum and canola, and has an accumulation network with offices in the Riverina, WA and Goondiwindi, Qld, with the head office in Melbourne.

The focus will be on grain and oilseed accumulation, with the company looking at the export market.

With this in mind, it has raised its profile in a bid to accumulate the grain for its customers.

Speaking at a farmers’ grain marketing meeting at Tungamah, Victoria, Louis Dreyfus’ southern NSW/Victoria regional manager Bill Dudley, Deniliquin, NSW, said the company had a leg-up compared to other accumulators looking to increase their presence in the Australian market, due to the company’s international reputation.

“Louis Dreyfus Australia’s ties with the wider business mean we have strong links through the supply chain in areas such as customer relationships, freight and logistics,” he said.

“There is also the comfort of knowing you are dealing with a big and reputable company, even though Louis Dreyfus is not widely known as a direct purchaser of Australian grain.”

Source: http://fw.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/grains-and-cropping/general/dreyfus-ramps-up-local-grain-buying/1661643.aspx?src=enews

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Posted: 30 October 2009 under Agribusiness worldwide.
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GRAINCORP is ready and waiting for what looms as a potentially monstrous southern zone harvest.

Victorian Department of Primary Industries (DPI) production estimates have flagged a harvest as high as nine million tonnes.

But the east coast bulk handler network has said it is ready and waiting.

Manager of storage and logistics Bruce Griffin said that after its round of pre-harvest meetings, GrainCorp was confident it had sufficient storage in place.

“We’re spending dollars at key Victorian storages to expand our receival capacity,” Mr Griffin said.

Nor is the company perturbed about executing logistics for a range of exporters.

Corporate affairs manager David Ginns said deregulation had nothing to do with the logistical nature of the business.

“The tonnes were there no matter who was buying,” Mr Ginns said.

“Our tasks in receiving, storing and handling the grain will remain the same – the matter of dealing with an increased number of exporters is a different matter; at an operational level it won’t make it any more difficult.”

Mr Griffin said portable grain elevator equipment would be moved south from NSW to meet demand this year.

“We have a set of drive over hoppers which are fully mobile. As the harvest progresses, we will be able to move them south,” he said.

In terms of targeting capacity to key area of demand, Mr Griffin said the company’s strategy had been to go with the more flexible option of large amounts of bunker storage.

“With the bunkers, they are a little more expensive to operate, as it needs more people to maintain, to put the tarps across and all that, but the beauty is that you only use them when the grain is there,” he said.

“This is in comparison to vertical storage, which is cheaper to run, but far more expensive to build.

“You can turn around and build vertical storage and have nothing to put back into them to recoup your expenses for a year.

“We have ensured we are prepared to put in extra bunkers should they be needed.

“There are additional tarps on hand to make sure we can get the extra storage in should it be needed.

“It’s relatively easy to set them up and can be done in a short space of time, which means we can be flexible about where additional bunkers go in.”

Importantly, he said a number of Victorian sites, such as Warracknabeal, had additional land nearby where GrainCorp could fit additional bunkers if necessary.

Source: http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/state/grains-and-cropping/general/ready-for-a-monster-southern-harvest/1661860.aspx?src=enews

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Posted: 28 October 2009 under Agribusiness worldwide.
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AUSTRALIA’S food and grocery industry turns over more each year than our automotive or housing sectors, and combined with pre-farm gate agriculture would outstrip mining too, according to a new report launched in Canberra tonight.

The Australian Food and Grocery Council’s ‘State of the Industry 2009′ report, launched by Minister for Agriculture, Tony Burke, revealed the food sector’s turnover was worth $100 billion and responsible for more than 38,000 businesses in Australia.

It said in the five years to June 2007, the sector’s turnover had increased by 5.9 per cent, with the fresh produce sector incredibly recording growth of 32pc.

It says dairy and meat manufacturing are the food and beverage sector’s two largest industries.

The combined value-add for food, grocery and fresh produce is around $27 billion, and the combined sectors account for 9.1pc of Australia’s total international trade, or valued at $49 billion in the past 12 months.

The report was prepared by KPMG and is the first time the industry has released such a comprehensive snapshot.

Apart from trade figures, however, most of the data refers to the years 2006-2007.

The food and grocery sector are meeting in Canberra for two days of information sessions on the future of food and grocery production and manufacturing in Australia.

Source: http://fw.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/general/ag-and-food-sectors-bigger-than-mining/1661667.aspx?src=enews

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Posted: 28 October 2009 under Agribusiness worldwide.
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