About 100 growers gathered in Port Adelaide on Thursday morning to view Cargill's new mobile export ship loader.
Growers were taken on a tour of the $7.5-million dollar loader, which exported its first grain load in January. Its fifth load will be exported this week.
About 110,000 tonnes of grain have been exported using the loader to date, with Cargill hoping 300,000 tonnes will be exported this year, before capacity increases to 540,000t in the following years.
The grain exported in the first few shipments has been accumulated across GrainFlow's four SA bulk storages at Maitland, Mallala, Pinnaroo and Crystal Brook, with the growers in attendance on Thursday also from these locations.
RELATED READING: Cargill invests in new mobile port loader at Port Adelaide
The loader was a $10-million investment from Cargill, and can load at a speed of 1000t an hour, with the first four shipments averaging capacities between 25,000-30,000t. Wheat has been exported to Papa New Guinea and Thailand, while barley has been exported to Saudi Arabia and Japan.
"There were a few small teething issues in the first few loads, but everything is running smoothly now," Cargill commercial general manager Grant McDougall said.
Cargill's Ed Bayles and Corey Johnson talked growers through a number of features of the loader, which will provide an exceptional standard of quality control including world-class sampling, testing and screening.
It has been designed to meet Australian standards and best practices, and also to meet EPA compliance and control.
"Safety-wise, it is world-class," Mr Bayles said.
Start the day with all the big news in agriculture. Sign up here to receive our daily Stock Journal newsletter.
