Bunge begins building

Despite civil works having started in March, the company's general manager Chris Aucote toured the construction site with Bunge Asia chief executive officer Chris White, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer and Minister for Transport Jim Chown, Bunbury mayor David Smith, Bunbury Port chairperson Neema Premji, representatives from the Pastoralists and Graziers Association (PGA), the project's Ahrens construction team and a number of selected growers to witness the build's progress.

While Mr Aucote said construction was running to schedule and was due to be finished in the first half of next year, Mr White pointed to the competition the new bulk export facility would bring to the WA grains market.

Mr White also said the building phase was a sign of commitment to WA grain growers and was an integral part of Bunge's growth strategy.

Speaking from the Bunbury Port to mark the commencement of construction, Mr White said Bunge's new and modern port facility would complement the State's current CBH grain supply chain and provide farmers with an alternate avenue to bulk export markets, creating additional value for their products and their businesses.

"The facilities will provide increased choice and flexibility for WA grain growers in their grain marketing and provide opportunities to extract price premiums for their product," he said.

"It will also provide economic and employment opportunities at the port in Bunbury and up country through support and service businesses."

Parliamentary Secretary to the Transport Minister Jim Chown also showed his support for the development and the agricultural industry by officially launching the construction phase at Friday's event.

He said despite many grain farmers having faced tough times recently, Bunge's private investment at Bunbury reflected commitment to and belief in WA growers by the private sector.

"Agriculture remains an integral part of our export industry and I believe there is a future for our grain farmers," he said.

The PGA also expressed its satisfaction that the WA grains industry had entered a new era of competition for bulk handling following Bunge's milestone project start at Bunbury.

The lobby group's Western Grain Growers Committee chairman John Snooke said Bunge's involvement was a major step forward for WA grain growers who would now have the ability to seek the cheapest storage, handling, freight and port services in the State.

"The decentralised Bunge system will provide opportunities for small businesses to build expertise and broaden their knowledge base in storage and handling in the grains logistics sector," he said.

"This new grain handling system utilises existing infrastructure and no taxpayer money is being used.

"Competition in grain marketing has provided more improvement in farmgate grain prices and the addition of a new bulk handler is part of that continuing evolution."

The bulk grain development will be fully funded by Bunge and represents a $30-$40 million investment.

It will use existing and under-utilised infrastructure including a berth and ship loader at the Bunbury Port.

The port will have storage capacity of 50,000 tonnes once the build is finished, with permits to export up to 500,000 tonnes in the first two years and the capacity to increase that number in the future.

Bunge's plan to enter the WA market was first unveiled exclusively by Farm Weekly in August last year.

At the time it was believed the investment had the potential to save Bunge's suppliers 10-20 per cent in Freight on Board (FOB) costs.

Bunge is a global leader in grain and oilseed marketing and processing, with significant experience in construction and management of port facilities.

It has more than 30,000 employees in 30 countries, with 11 in Australia at the moment.

It also has considerable experience in developing port facilities.

The company recently finished a $250 million elevator investment in the USA and commissioned a 126,000 million tonne facility on the Black Sea, Ukraine.