Bogasari, an Indonesian-based company which controls two of the world's largest flour mills, will receive part of a delayed shipment of Australian wheat in the middle of this month, the company's director said Friday.
"We've been told that one ship with around 40,000 tonnes of wheat will arrive on March 15. We're still waiting for the arrival of two other ships," said the company's director, Franciscus Welirang.
In all, the company has contracted to buy around 150,000 tonnes of Australian wheat in the first quarter of this year.
Late last month, Bogasari received a letter from Cooperative Bulk Handling Ltd. saying there would be delays of as much as 60-105 days in shipping previously contracted wheat due to logistics problems in transferring wheat from storage sites to ports and vessels.
Welirang said the remaining two shipments of Australian wheat should arrive by April, around the same time as a shipment of 60,000 tonnes of US wheat that Bogasari has contracted to ensure it doesn't run out of stocks due to the delays in procuring Australian wheat.
"That's when the situation may get a bit crowded. We can accommodate the unloading of one large ship at the port at any one point, so other ships will have to wait their turn, and this will increase demurrage costs," said Welirang.
Welirang said since it was informed about the delays early, the company is trying its best to rearrange shipping schedules so that the Australian wheat shipments do not clash with shipments from other origins such as the US and Canada.
"We were expecting more Australian wheat shipments in the first quarter than other origins, but the delays mean we have speeded up shipments of US wheat to make up for any shortfall," he said.
Such rearranging of schedules will likely continue into the second quarter.
"The schedules will likely be reversed, with US wheat shipments coming in earlier and Australian wheat shipments pushed back to later dates to accommodate the delays at Australian ports," Welirang said.
Indonesia is expected to import 4.5 million tonnes of wheat in 2009, up 5 percent from last year.
