WA Harvest update - Biggest receival week so far

By CBH

* Tonnes stated are accurate as of Friday morning, 27 November.

CBH Operations Update

The CBH Group experienced its largest week of grain receivals so far for the 2020-21 season, with more than 2.9 million tonnes delivered this week as harvest passed its likely halfway point.

A total of more than 7.7 million tonnes have been received into the CBH network, with more than 4.4 million tonnes delivered over the past 10 days despite interruptions due to harvest bans.

Chief Operations Officer Ben Macnamara said this period had been extremely busy across all zones, with a daily receivals record achieved on Monday, 23 November.

"Since the conclusion of the ongoing period of poor weather at the start of this harvest, growers have been working around the clock to get their crops off while the conditions are right," Mr Macnamara said.

"This led to our largest ever receivals day on Monday, 23 November, when 528,678 tonnes were delivered into 112 sites across our network.

"This record was broken despite none of our individual zones breaking daily receivals records, demonstrating the widespread nature of the ideal harvesting conditions across the grainbelt.

"Growers continue to report higher than expected yields and minimal quality impacts as a result of late season rain, which is a welcome outcome as we approach the second half of the harvest period."

Zone Summary

Geraldton Zone

• Consistent warm weather has led to a busy week at all sites across the zone, with the highest weekly receivals volumes yet.
• About 529,000 tonnes delivered over the past seven days, taking total receivals to 1.7 million tonnes.
• Largest receival day so far this season was on Monday, with more than 89,000 tonnes received.
• Similarly to last week, quality has been outstanding with some higher proteins starting to come through and a trend from ASW to APW evident.
• Some growers are beginning to complete their harvest programs. Within the next ten days, we will likely be more than 85 per cent through the zone's harvest and looking towards the finish line.

Kwinana North Zone

• Good weather conditions have allowed for long harvesting days, with the exception of Tuesday when most growers within the zone stopped due to a harvest ban.
• The Kwinana North Zone received 650,000 tonnes this week, taking total deliveries to almost 2 million tonnes.
• Our largest day of the season was on Monday, when more than 128,000 tonnes were delivered into the zone.
• Most growers are now harvesting wheat, which has so far been of good quality with no falling number issues as yet. However, some growers are dealing with high screenings.
• Site turnaround times are improving as most growers are now harvesting wheat.

​Kwinana South Zone

• Ongoing warm conditions have allowed for several days of high receival volumes.
• Harvest bans in place on Tuesday and Thursday caused some interruptions to the flow of harvest.
• To date 1.3 million tonnes received, of which 538,000 tonnes were delivered in the past week.
• Largest receivals day for the season was on Monday, with more than 105,000 tonnes delivered across the zone.
• Quality and yield has continued to perform very well across the zone.

Albany Zone

• Receivals increased over the past week, and the Albany Zone received its greatest volumes so far this harvest. The only interruption this week was a harvest ban on Tuesday.
• The zone has received almost 1.2 million tonnes. Of that, 639,000 tonnes were delivered over the past week.
• Thursday was our largest receivals day for the season, with more than 113,000 tonnes delivered across the zone.
• Quality has been holding up, with about 40 per cent of barley making malt grade and 80 per cent of oats grading as OAT1.
• Canola oil content has varied across the zone, while we are continuing to monitor any issues that may arise with wheat as more deliveries come into the system.
• Yields continue to be better than expected as growers start to move into cereals.

Esperance Zone​

• The Esperance Zone has had a good week of deliveries. Despite harvest bans and some drizzle, 556,000 tonnes were received for the week which takes total receivals to 1.5 million tonnes.
• Monday was our largest receivals day for the season so far, with more than 93,000 tonnes delivered across the zone.
• Lake Varley took a daily record on Monday, with 6,113 tonnes received.
• Yields continue to be well above expectations. Estimates for canola receivals have been surpassed and this is likely to occur with wheat and barley receivals.

Market Update

Wheat

Wheat prices drifted lower this week as grower prices fell approximately $10 per tonne, with APW1 finishing the week at $327.00 per tonne free in store (FIS) Kwinana. This is due to the stronger Australian Dollar and the majority of the trade having covered earlier harvest shipping requirements. Demand for Australian wheat still remains relatively strong, however port capacity in the first quarter will remain an issue across Australia, with the large program already committed. A large proportion of this demand has been from Africa, as Australian wheat competes strongly against Black Sea wheat.

Barley

The barley market continues to be dominated by the feed story, with interest from the Middle East and Asia continuing. However, a stronger Australian dollar and a larger than anticipated crop is seeing feed barley prices ease, with grower prices falling $5-6 per tonne to $264.00 per tonne FIS Kwinana. Local interest for specific malt varieties continues, however the market remains relatively quiet from the export side. Spartacus prices were up to $276 per tonne FIS Kwinana by the end of the week.

Canola

Grower prices fell by approximately $15 per tonne this week to $650 per tonne FIS Kwinana on the back of the trade covering the majority of early sales with strong grower selling over the past ten days. This market has been driven by the shorts in the trade which pushed values above export parity. At this stage, concerns over the ongoing European COVID-19 impact on biodiesel demand will likely see prices drift lower until there is a clearer sign on future demand.

Oats

The oat market continues to drift lower on the back of stronger export competition from east coast suppliers to Western Australia's traditional export customers. This, combined with a slightly stronger dollar, has seen prices begin to decrease.

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