Company merger
ANIMAL feedstock manufacturer Riverina Australia has merged with grain trader Agrex.
Both companies are owned by parent company Mitsubishi Corporation.
The newly merged company will operate as Riverina Australia from its Brisbane headquarters.
David Hunter will remain as Riverina Managing Director.
Agrex Australia has offices in Melbourne and Perth and also owns shares in the strategically placed Newcastle Agri Terminal (NAT). While the Melbourne office will close, the Perth office will remain open but change to the Riverina name.
Grain protein boost
DATA from the Grain and Legume Nutrition Council (GLNC) has found
one in five wholemeal/whole grain breads is a ‘good source’ of protein.
Officials at the GLNC say including whole grain bread can help Australians looking to boost their protein uptake.
In particular, the GLNC is looking to target young Australians looking to build muscle through increasing their protein intake, saying a post-workout snack such as hummus, whole grain crackers and cheese provided equally as much protein as expensive protein shakes.
CBH record
CBH has set a new shipping and rail records for the largest amount of grain moved by the bulk handler over a 12-month period.
A total of 15 million tonnes was shipped from Oct. 1, 2016, to Sept. 30, 2017, through CBH’s four port terminals in Geraldton, Kwinana, Albany and Esperance.
This includes the monthly record of 1.89 million tonnes in January 2017.
The previous shipping record of 13.88 million tonnes was achieved in 2013-14.
David Capper, general manager of operations at CBH Group, said the annual records were driven by the bumper 2016-17 harvest and the ability of the co-operative’s supply chain to meet the high volumes.
Cotton downgrade
THE US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has slashed its cotton production estimates in the North American nation due to damage done by a series of hurricanes in recent months.
In its recent World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, the USDA cut 643,000 bales from US production, largely due to downgrades in Texas and Georgia, two of the nation’s major cotton states.
In Texas, it was Hurricane Harvey that did the damage, while Hurricane Irma was the major problem for the crop in Georgia.