Particular spending targets defined as part of three-year supply chain efficiency and improvement plan
GrainCorp’s $200 million Project Regeneration effort will see $60 million spent this year on 13 country site upgrades, the agribusiness says.
The grain infrastructure and supply chain improvement project announced a year ago involves developing a network of more than 50 high-capacity country sites to support an efficient rail operation.
This aims to reduce rail costs by around $5 per tonne and return up to 1 million tonnes of grain to rail.
The works at each site fall broadly into four categories: new country sites with new high speed over-rail loaders, new high speed over-rail loaders at existing sites, upgrades to existing rail loading infrastructure and capacity expansion.
The 13 country sites to receive upgrades this year include:
- New country sites – Yamala (Emerald, Qld), Calleen (Ungarie, NSW)
- New over-rail loading equipment – Nevertire, Ardlethan (both NSW)
- Infrastructure upgrade – Narrabri, Burren Junction, Spring Ridge, Junee (all NSW); Oaklands, Tocumwall (NSW on Vic network); Rainbow, Murrayville (both Vic)
- Capacity expansion – Red Bend, Ardlethan (both NSW).
At the time of the Project Regeneration announcement, the company noted that Government spending in addition to its own investment was crucial for its success.
“Reduced complexity, faster rail loading times and shorter train cycle times will increase the volume of grain transported by rail and reduce supply chain costs, which translates to improved grower returns,” managing director and CEO Mark Palmquist says.
“We continue to work closely with governments to encourage complementary investment in government-owned rail sidings.
“In particular, we pay tribute to the NSW Government’s focus on increasing grain rail freight and their $400 million Fixing Country Rail commitment.
“Without the NSW government’s investment to extend sidings at Ardlethan and Nevertire, our investment to upgrade those two sites would not have been possible.
“We’ve also been encouraged by the positive engagement we’ve had with the Victorian and Queensland governments.”