CBH Group adds to storage capacity for 2018-19 grain harvest

With first grain deliveries just days away, Australia’s largest co-operative is nearing construction completion of more than 650 000 t of permanent storage as part of the Network Strategy, and more than 900 000 t of emergency storage for the 2018-19 harvest. A further 200 000 t can be built if required for this harvest depending on the weather.

Key permanent storage projects include 138 000 t of additional storage at the Kellerberrin receival site, 8600 t at York, 72 000 t at Broomehill, 69 000 t at Grass Patch, 60 000 t at Koorda, 36 800 t at Perenjori.

CBH General Manager Operations David Capper said the addition of significant storage to the network was one part of the co-operative’s commitment to deliver better and faster services to growers.

“We’re well prepared to safely manage the upcoming harvest, and we continue to communicate this with growers as we progress through the pre-harvest meetings,” Capper said.

“Our harvest preparation has included the capacity to accommodate for a significant amount of emergency storage, which provides us with the flexibility to manage high volumes of grain deliveries in localised hotspots, which is anticipated to be in the Kwinana Zone.

“This is on top of the strong progress we’ve made with the Network Strategy, which has added a substantial amount of permanent storage to the network as well as improve our capabilities of unloading grain from the truck to our storage system.

“This, combined with the new technology we’ve introduced this year such as the mobile CDF app, will enable an effective and efficient harvest delivery program for our growers, who can expect to receive the same good service from CBH.”

As part of the Network Strategy, CBH is installing new equipment or upgrading infrastructure to increase throughput resulting in sites being able to receive grain faster.

Capper said CBH had completed more than 20 throughput enhancement projects across the network this year.

“We’ve installed or upgraded conveyor systems at a number of our receival sites, and this has the capacity to receive grain faster and therefore potentially reducing delivery times for growers and drivers,” he said.

Capper said CBH had purchased 19 additional drive over grids (DOGs), which is a mobile device that could quickly and conveniently increase a receival site’s grain unloading capacity.

“Putting these preparations in place means we can quickly deploy these pieces of equipment to receival sites that may be experiencing high volumes, enabling trucks to unload quicker and provide faster turnaround times for growers and transporters.”

Read the article online at: https://www.drybulkmagazine.com/material-handling/12102018/cbh-group-adds-to-storage-capacity-for-2018-19-grain-harvest/