JUST three years after being virtually consigned to the scrapheap as an exporter of southern Australian grain, the Port of Portland shipping stem is fully booked and on track to export 800,000 tonnes of grain for the year to September 30.
It is a rare success story in an Australian grain logistics system plagued by a range of setbacks including creaking upcountry rail infrastructure, insufficient capacity and frequent delays in loading vessels.
Port of Portland chief executive Jim Cooper said the drought hit his port hard, with Pacific National not operating grain trains into the facility.
“People said there would never be grain trains in here again, it goes to show you should never say never.
“I think the last 18 months have shown we are a very reliable export port.”
The natural deepwater port has a big advantage over other ports in that it can fit in the larger Panamax vessels, capable of holding up to 80,000 tonnes deadweight, compared to the smaller Handymax vessels, which can only hold up to 60,000t dwt.
“We can get out fully loaded Panamax vessels, whereas there are draft restrictions in other ports,” Mr Cooper said.
“There’s pretty fierce competition for berths here at the moment, not only because we are deepwater, but also because there haven’t been the delays here and that is attracting exporters.”
Traditionally, Portland has been regarded as a less desirable grain export port, due to a slower route from upcountry grain sites to port, which has resulted in lower grain price bids on the Portland track.
Mr Cooper said he hoped the revived fortunes of the port would change that.
Currently, both Pacific National trains, which hold around 2400 tonnes, and the slightly smaller El Zorro train sets are carting into Portland.
“We’re getting a few deliveries straight from Dimboola, and you can get a train up and back in a day, which is a dream supply chain, so it is very efficient.
“I’d like to hope the pricing upcountry reflects these efficiencies, it’s a different story to when the rail lines into Portland were not as efficient as going to Geelong.”
Mick Phelan, AgFarm account manager said the big crops in recent years meant all port capacity was now being utilised.
“When you see Geelong jammed up, its crucial that capacity in other places like Portland is used.”
He said it was worth farmers on the Portland track to get a port pass to deliver direct to the port.
“There’s often some good premiums for prompt delivered grain, and the turnaround into Portland is very manageable.”
He said marketers were slowly adjusting their prices to reflect the fact Portland was increasingly competitive.
“With barley and canola, the bids are pretty similar across the Victorian port zones, while with wheat, you may see Portland still a couple of dollars a tonne behind, which probably reflects tradition as much as anything.
“Importantly for growers upcountry in the larger sites such as Dimboola or Murtoa, there is the flexibility to get into any Victorian port, or Adelaide for that matter, and take advantage of the short-term spikes that can come up.”
Mr Cooper said Portland was focusing on dealing with as much grain on rail as possible.
“We like the trains, they can unload in half the time and with half the labour cost of trucks.”
Mr Cooper said Portland was lucky to have a diverse export stream during the drought.
“The woodchip export facility, run by both GrainCorp and Gunns kept things moving while there was no grain during the drought.
“Last year there were 300,000 tonnes of softwood chips and 600,000 tonnes of hardwood chips go out from Portland.”
Mineral sands, mined in western Victoria, make Iluka the port’s major customer, while aluminium is another big export.
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