CBH Group eyes new export milestones amid booming WA grain productionCally DupeCountrymanWed, 29 October 2025 8:00AMEmail Cally Dupe
WA's mega harvest is set to come in thick and fast but leaders at the State's main grain handler has a clear message to farmers -- we are ready for it.
More storage, drive over grids and new weighbridges are just some of the tools CBH Group has rolled out to receive, handle, and outturn the crop between now and February.
WA's grain harvest kicked off in earnest on October 12 with a 55t delivery of barley to CBH Group's Chadwick site near Esperance.
And harvest predictions continue to climb, with the latest Grain Industry Association of WA estimates revealing farmers could smash the record set three years ago.
The latest estimate, of 24.5Mt of grain, would challenge the 26Mt set in 2022.
It could also pose a significant challenge for CBH after fluctuating grain deliveries of up to 50 per cent during the past three years and a five-year average of 18.5Mt.
But CBH Group head of network planning Nelson Aylmore -- whose role intersects operations and supply chain management -- said the farmer-owned co-operative was "ready to go" and excited about what could be another record crop.
"It is exciting for us and WA grain growers," he said.
"We have been preparing for this since the start of the year . . . and our plans have now come into place.
"A lot of work goes into preparing to receive a crop like this . . . it has been a huge effort."
It is set to be the fourth time in five years WA grain farmers have harvested a crop bigger than 20Mt, after breaking through what many thought was an unachievable barrier for the first time in 2021.
Driving this year's bumper harvest is the additional 500,000ha of crop planted compared to three years ago, as farmers continue to prioritise cropping over sheep, as well as an increase in barley plantings.
MEGA HARVEST, MEGA INVESTMENT
In an email to farmers this month, CBH Group chief operating officer Mick Daw said CBH had been planning to receive a crop bigger than 20Mt "for months", and was dedicated to long-term planning for bigger harvests.
Mr Aylmore said CBH Group enacted what it called "peak planning" earlier in the year, examining its build plan for above-average harvests in a similar way it did for WA's record harvests in 2022 (26Mt) and 2021 (24Mt).
"It's basically a rapid rollout of storage capacity across the State," he said.
"This includes permanent, temporary and low-spec storage . . . as well as throughput upgrades including weighbridges.
"We continue to invest in receiving a bigger harvest, but also in being able to outturn it quicker."
Priority projects this year included adding 500,000 tonnes of permanent storage capacity at two major site upgrades at Newdegate and Corrigin, as well as adding permanent storage at Avon, Chadwick, Hyden, Wagin, Cunderdin and Quairading.
CBH bought about six parcels of land from farmers during the past six months to help add both permanent and temporary storage in recent years, Mr Aylmore said.
More than 1.5Mt of new and reinstated low specification storage was also built across 25 sites this year, with CBH also purchasing 10 new drive over grids to service them.
Mr Aylmore said "low-spec" storage was similar to its classic open bulkheads, but without an asphalt base and fed by a pit and conveyor.
As well as storing the grain, CBH also wants to be able to get it in and out of its sites quicker -- with a range of what Mr Aylmore called "throughput projects" now complete at Perenjori, Beaumont, West River and the Esperance Port.
LONG-TERM PLANNING
The upgrades form part of $4 billion investment being rolled out under CBH Group's Path to 2033 strategy, which aims to turbocharge investment in the network so CBH can export up to 3 million tonnes of grain per month by 2033.
The strategy, launched in 2022 under chief executive Ben Macnamara, also aims to safely receive an average 22Mt crop with 30Mt peaks, outturn 70 per cent of the crop in the first half of the shipping window, and market 50 per cent of the crop to customers.
Its launch came after CBH had already invested $1.6 billion into its network between 2017-2022.
In 2022, CBH Group's export capacity was 1.6Mt per month. It now sits at 2Mt.
CBH last year invested $500m across the network, including a record $199m on sustaining capital and upgrading existing infrastructure.
In December, the farmer-owned co-operative finalised the Horizon 1 target of the Path to 2033 target after creating enough capacity to outturn more than 2Mt per month.
Horizon 2, which involves exporting a maximum of 2.5Mt per month, kicked off this year with the hope of being complete by 2028.
CBH has added more than 1.5 million tonnes of permanent storage and 4 million tonnes of low specification storage to its 100 key network sites during the past four years.
All of the sites selected for upgrades in recent and years to come would "front-run" CBH's longer-term plans, Mr Aylmore said, meaning they were sites already in line for upgrades.
RECORDS TUMBLE
CBH set three daily receival records set during last harvest, with WA growers delivering 630,600t on November 29 -- the biggest day of receivals in its 91-year history.
And records are expected to continue to tumble.
CBH Group is preparing to outturn another near-record amount of grain, with the 21.9Mt outturn record set in 2023.
Mr Daw told growers the company had maintained a "rigorous" outturn program throughout the year -- in terms of shifting grain from its upcountry sites and exporting it from CBH's four ports at Geraldton, Kwinana, Albany and Esperance.
A big part of the Path to 2033 strategy involves adapting port systems and planning to better handle the increased volume of grain and achieve higher export tonnages, with a goal of out-turning 70 per cent of the crop in the first half of the shipping window.
SUPPLY CHAIN
As CBH turned its attention to receiving and out-turning the 2025-26 harvest, it still had about 2Mt of last year's grain in its system -- a figure both Mr Daw and Mr Aylmore implied be congratulated rather than critiqued.
Mr Aylmore said the 2Mt carryover was well down on last year's 5Mt figure and was a result of the "supply chain performing really well".
CBH shipped 14.7Mt of grain during the 2023-24 shipping year -- marking its fourth biggest shipping year on record but down on the 2023 record of 19Mt.
"That is a really strong shipping year . . . which underpins the supply chain and the improvements we have seen," Mr Aylmore said.
The Albany Port Zone was expected to harvest 6.3Mt of grain, followed by the Geraldton Port Zone at 4.4Mt and the Esperance Port Zone at 4.15Mt.
WA's grain-growing districts are split into four main areas, with farmers in the biggest -- the Kwinana Port Zone -- expected to harvest 10.5Mt of grain this year.
Mr Aylmore said for those working at CBH, the big totals predicted mean it is all systems go.
"We are ready for it to be big and fast, across the State," he said.
CBH Group posted a $279.5m drop in profit in 2024-25, which its leaders said was "in line" with expectations and partially due to the spend on its Path to 2033 Strategy - which is funded through a combination of reinvested profits and long-term debt.
The co-operative's 2024 Annual Report, released December 13, revealed CBH made a $73.8m profit for the financial year, down from $353.3m the previous year.
First harvest delivery dates (according to CBH Group)
2020: October 7 at CBH's Moonyoonooka site (canola)
2021: September 22 at CBH's Geraldton Port Terminal (canola)
2022: September 27 2022 at CBH's Geraldton Grain Terminal (canola)
2023: September 27 at CBH's Yuna receival site (lupins)
2024: October 8 at CBH's Esperance Grain Terminal (canola)
2025: October 12 at CBH's Chadwick site (feed barley)
Road to (and beyond) a record
2016-17: 18.15Mt
2017-18: 14.27Mt
2018-19: 17.91Mt
2019-20: 11.29Mt
2020-21L 16.6Mt
2021-22: 24Mt
2022-23: 26Mt
2023-24: 14.5Mt
2024-25: 22.4Mt
2024-26 (estimate): 25.4Mt
Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.
Sign up for our emails