WESTERN Australia’s CBH Group has reported a surplus for its financial year ending September 30 of $73.8 million, down 79 percent from $353.3M in FY23.

The figure was released today by Australia’s biggest co-operative in its 2024 Annual Report, which showed FY24 revenue of $4.5 billion, down 25pc from $6B in FY23.

In a statement, CBH chief executive officer Ben Macnamara said despite a below-average harvest in 2023-24, the co-operative delivered a solid performance while making strong progress on its Path to 2033 Strategy.

“We are proud to have successfully achieved our Horizon 1 target, creating enough capacity to outturn more than 2 million tonnes per month,” Mr Macnamara said.

“Looking forward, our focus remains on delivering our Path to 2033 Strategy and driving efficiencies across the network, to support our ability to outturn up to 3 million tonnes a month by 2033,” Mr Macnamara said.

As part of its strategy, the co-operative spent $500M on its network of up-country sites and four four export terminals during FY24.

CBH’s Operations division reported a $51M surplus, down from $156M in FY23, reflecting the below-average volume of 12.5 million tonnes (Mt) delivered by growers into the network, compared with the record 22.9Mt of grain received in FY23.

However, the division produced a strong logistical performance, achieving its third-largest outloading program of 16.3Mt on record, and its fourth-largest shipping year of 14.7Mt.

CBH’s FY24 bulk grain exports accounted for 25pc of the Australian total.

In addition, CBH outturned 1.6Mt to domestic markets.

“Domestically, we saw heightened activity between March and July, with a record 260 contracts of feed barley, wheat and lupins secured, up 115pc from the previous year,” the report stated.

“The strong demand from domestic buyers was due to limited feed stock, driven by the late start to the season.”

Marketing & Trading (M&T) reported a surplus of $14.8M, well down from the FY23 figure of $176.3M, amid a “challenging trading environment”.

M&T bought 42pc of the WA crop, paid $2.9B to WA growers for their grain, and shipped 8Mt of grain to its customers.

China, Japan valued

The report said China remained a key market for WA grain in early FY24, with strong early demand for wheat and barley driving a surge in exports.

M&T shipped a total 3.5Mt of wheat and barley to China in FY24, more than triple the FY23 volume and marking a significant return after the three-year loss of the barley market for Australia.

Wheat shipments alone were up 41pc year on year, despite Chinese demand falling away sharply in the second half, as an already significant global procurement program, combined with slowing economic conditions, saw China withdraw from global markets.

Japan continues to be a vital market for WA grain, with M&T shipping about 1.2Mt in FY24.

“The strong demand for WA noodle wheat, malt barley for shochu and feed barley highlights the importance and value of our longstanding customer relationships.

“Despite challenges with dry climatic conditions and a smaller crop, WA has maintained a consistent supply of quality wheat that meets the premium noodle wheat market requirements.

“This is critical to the Japanese market in particular, for production of udon and somen noodles.”

Uptick for fertliser

CBH Group’s Fertiliser division completed its first full season operating the Kwinana Fertiliser Terminal in FY24, offering a full range of liquid and granular fertilisers.

The division out-turned a record 253,000t of product, up from 232,000t in FY23, and maintained an 11pc market share in WA, with 33pc, or 198 customers, being new in FY24.

In April, CBH Fertiliser introduced Urea + Glaze Extend, a water-based, solvent-free urease inhibitor designed to reduce nitrogen loss through volatilisation, and improve nitrogen-use efficiency.

The annual said Urea + Glaze Extend has been well received, particularly in the Esperance Zone. Following its initial launch, demand increased with favourable weather, resulting in over 12,000 tonnes collected across the state by the end of June, and 52 growers purchasing the product.

Since introducing its liquid Urea Ammonium Nitrate (UAN) product in April 2023, CBH Fertiliers has increased outturn volumes and driven down liquid fertiliser costs for WA growers.

The report states more than 270 growers purchased UAN in FY24, with more than 56,000t outturned.

Source: CBH Group