CBH Group builds a fertiliser facility to meet rising demand

CBH’s fertiliser business achieved a 47% increase in sales last year

Australian co-op CBH Group is expanding its fertiliser business by building a new storage facility for granular and liquid fertiliser.

The 70,000 square meters facility will have storage for 55,000 tonnes of granular fertiliser in a new warehouse, plus two 16,000 tonne storage tanks for liquid fertiliser urea ammonium nitrate (UAN).

 A ship unloading and transfer pipeline for the site will run along the existing Kwinana Grain Terminal jetty 

Work has started on the site, which the co-op says will help it meet the increased grower demand in Western Australia for CBH fertiliser.  

CEO Ben Macnamara said: “The facility will enable the expansion of our fertiliser business, which last year achieved a 47% increase in sales.  

“This new phase of growth will see the business enter the liquid fertiliser market for the first time, and expand its granular fertiliser offering to provide consistency of supply and deliver on our strategy to reduce on-farm input costs for Western Australian grain growers.”  

Head of fertiliser David Pritchard added: “We’ve seen demand for fertiliser, particularly UAN, grow exponentially in recent years, with the existing market struggling to keep pace during key times. 

“This new facility will enable us to bring surety of supply to growers, and the efficiencies gained through leveraging CBH’s supply chain will be passed along to growers, bringing further competitiveness to the market.”

Construction is due to be completed in 2023.