Western Australia's CBH upgrades grain receivals estimate

Western Australia's grain logistics company Cooperative Bulk Handling Ltd. Tuesday (July 21) upgraded its estimate of receivals from a crop to be harvested late this year primarily because of favourable rainfall.

CBH now estimates grain receivals from the new crop in a range of 10 million to 12 million metric tonnes, up from a previous range of 8 million to 11 million tonnes but down from actual receivals last crop year ended March 31, 2009, of 12.3 million tonnes.

"Follow-up rains in August/September will ultimately determine the size of the 2009-10 crop," a CBH spokeswoman said in a brief statement. "It really is still early days, so this estimated range could vary again in the coming months, depending on how the weather conditions pan out."

Winter crops are mostly harvested in November and December and depend on spring rains to get through to harvest.

Typically about 70 percent of the state's winter crop production is wheat and 20 percent is barley, with nearly all of both these grains available for export, making the state a major globally traded source of these cereals.

CBH is the monopoly provider of export grain logistics in the state with four export terminals and nearly 200 upcountry storage sites and is the largest wheat exporter in Australia.