Bulk grain facilities lift export prospects

Press, 20 July 1984, Page 20

Bulk grain facilities lift export prospects

Improved bulk grain loading facilities at Lyttelton could open the possibility oi exports of grain grown in the Amuri district and other parts of North Canterbury, according to Mr J. C. Paterson, a director and exportimport manager for Pyne, Gould, Guinness, Ltd. The Lyttelton Harbour Board recently installed two grain silos with a capacity of 1800 tonnes near Cashin Quay, and hopes to extend the storage for the 1985 season. The silos can feed the port’s bulk loading system. The new facilities would allow ships carrying 30 to 35,000 tonnes to be loaded at

Lyttelton, said Mr Paterson. Previously, most grain was shipped from Bluff or Timaru in ships carrying 20 to 25,000 tonnes because those ports could not handle larger vessels. Larger ships could now be chartered at a more favourable freight rate and be either fully loaded at Lyttelton or topped-up there after having loaded at Bluff or Timaru. The Southern Progress has just loaded 9000 tonnes of barley at Lyttelton, after taking on 16,000 tonnes at Timaru. Mr Paterson made his comments at a function on board the Southern Progress this week, held to mark the

first bulk barley shipment from New Zealand direct to Saudi Arabia. The shipment has been arranged through the Merchants’ Barley Consortium.

The opening of a bulk handling facility for grain at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, means that ships can discharge in bulk, resulting in a substantial saving in transport costs. Previously the cargo had to be discharged and bagged in Singapore. The improvements at Lyttelton and Jeddah were important to North Canterbury farmers because previously there was little chance for export of their grain. Barley had to be transported to Timaru from Darfield and Ellesmere, but could now come through Lyttelton, opening up production in the Amuri and other areas. Mr Paterson said the merchants had been successful in obtaining several export markets for barley this year. The main markets are Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Portugal, and next week a shipment will be sent to Hawaii.

This season the merchants have arranged the export of almost 170,000 tonnes of barley. They expect one more sale of about 30,000 tonnes.