ABB finalises 2008-09 pools early

ABB Grain has announced it is finalising all 2008/09 pools and paying pool participants early.

ABB Grain's pooled business manager Anthony Fitzgerald said the move was a positive one for all pool participants.

''After assessing that there was little prospect of markets strengthening in the last quarter of 2009 and first quarter of 2010, ABB made the decision to accelerate the sales programme to avoid what it saw as an increasingly bearish market,'' he said.

''All sales are now complete for all of ABB's national pools – wheat, barley and canola.''

A September distribution has not been made due to the planned finalisation by the end of October. A final payment will be made to all pool participants in late October, which will include distribution payments originally intended to be paid in December 2009 and March 2010.

The final payment covers the three payment options ABB offered for the 2008-09 harvest: Harvest Payment, Quarterly Distributions, and a Single Distribution. Growers will begin receiving the payment into their bank accounts in late October, with paperwork to follow.