November 14, 2019

 

Ridley indicates more feed mill restructuring: report

 

Australia's largest stockfeed processor, Ridley Corporation, has indicated more milling rationalisation as it prepares to open its new Bendigo district feed mill in Victoria next year, Bendigo Advertiser reports.

 

Specifically, the company has started a A$5 million (~US$3.4 million; A$1 = US$0.68) cost saving "restructure", trimming headcount and management layers across the business during November.

 

The exact number of job cuts has not yet been specified, but would be 'significant' according to managing director, Quinton Hildebrand.

 

Ridley wants to increase domestic market growth and has informed staff and shareholders it needs a competitive cost structure from which it can leverage its nutritional expertise and product know-how.

 

Ridley Agriproducts brands include Rumevite and Barastoc animal feeds and the Primo and Novacq lines for the aquaculture industry. Novacq is a high-performance shrimp feed, originally developed by CSIRO, to help producers grow larger shrimp sustainably, faster and more cost effectively.

 

Company chairman Gary Weiss said, "We have charged our new chief executive officer with responsibility to focus Ridley on its domestic growth plans, leverage its state-of-the-art facilities and accelerate the commercialisation of its Novacq franchise internationally."

 

The company added that the organisational changes would focus on improving responsiveness to, and alignment with customer needs.

 

In October Ridley announced the sudden closure of one of its two South Australian stockfeed mills. It has now flagged cuts to milling operations in Victoria after the new 500,000-tonne capacity Wellsford plant, north of Bendigo, opens in the first half of next year.

 

The company has another mill at East Bendigo which it confirmed last year had reached its 160,000-tonne capacity which is restricted from expansion due to the city's growth around the site.

 

The new A$50-million Wellsford mill will supply expanding markets in central and northern Victoria, particularly poultry and swine producers.

 

Victoria is a homeground for Ridley's Agriproducts division with nine of its 19 processing plants in the state.