VITERRA has broken its all-time receival record for its SA sites in a season with more than 8.55 million tonnes of grain delivered.
This beats the previous SA record of 8.54mt in 2001-02.
Viterra Operations general manager Tim Krause said the 2016-17 harvest had been the busiest ever with many records achieved at site, regional and state level.
“It has been fantastic for growers and for SA,” Tim said.
“Both our Western and Eastern regions have achieved new season records with 3.2mt and 1.6mt received respectively.
“The Central region has also been doing a mammoth job with receivals at 3.8mt.
“It’s excellent to see large production from all corners of the state. It’s also been a great effort by growers, carriers and our staff working together to keep grain moving through sites.”
While the record is a huge achievement, Mr Krause said the job was still not done yet.
“There is still some way to go for growers in later areas who are in the midst of harvest,” he said.
“We will continue our large overflow program to move grain from upcountry sites to port and provide extra space for receivals.
“Yields have been exceeding growers’ expectations and we have been constantly monitoring estimates.
“We are nearing the completion of building around 900,000 tonnes of extra storage to make sure the crop can be handled.
“Shipping is equally as critical during harvest to provide extra space upcountry. More than 860,000t of grain was shipped from Viterra’s ports in December, which is our second largest month on record.
“We have a further 5mt of shipping booked for 2017.
“These large shipping volumes reflect the high regard exporters have for SA grain and our supply chain in order to source quality, consistent and reliable products for their end-use customers.”