ADM grain bunkers at Port Pirie ready by harvest

International grain marketing company Archer Daniels Midland has been building bunkers at Port Pirie, with plans to restart grain exports from the town.

This is ADM's first company-owned grain storage site in Australia.

ADM Asia Pacific trading managing director Tim Henry said the company was proud to be announcing its latest storage and handling investment in the home state of its Australian origination business.

"Coupled with other projects nearing completion in the state and the expansion of on-farm storage, the grain supply chain landscape is changing rapidly in SA,'' he said.

The site will include a bunker-style layout, designed according to simple segregation options and for efficient harvest turnaround, and will be managed by Kevin Brice, who has 19 years of storage and handling experience in the Mid and Upper North region.

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The facility's cereal intake capacity will be serviced by two SA-designed and built Kilic Drive Over Hopper Stackers and incorporating a 36-metre weighbridge suitable for B-doubles and road trains, as well as a fully equipped sample stand.

ADM national accumulation group manager Damian Bradford said the new Port Pirie grain storage facility would continue to drive competition, efficiency and improved customer service in the SA grain supply chain.

"It will open to receive wheat and feed barley, with final segregations communicated to local grain producers closer to harvest," he said.

"Mid and Upper North growers will have the option of forward or ex-warehouse contracts, as well as cash at silo for harvest deliveries.

"We are in the process of engaging with local producers and will be conducting pre-harvest meetings and site walk-throughs to ensure all growers and carriers are fully briefed on the site's operational procedures and capabilities.''

He said the recommencement of exports from Port Pirie may also include coastal shipments to Brisbane or Newcastle due to the grain production issues on the east coast of Australia.