20 October 2015
With the fall in commodity prices, many of Western Australia’s biggest exporting companies have taken a sizeable hit from the drop in the state’s export turnover, with their combined trade revenue down about $10 billion.
However other sectors including agriculture have recorded strong growth in the face of a difficult international environment. Bulk grain handler co-operative, CBH Group are a testament to this as they have risen two places to number eight on the Business News IQ biggest exporters list.
CBH Group chief executive Andrew Crane told Business News that the industry “…has some strong points in the global market, although would need to run a more efficient supply chain in order to compete”, while acknowledging the state’s natural advantages noting their proximity to key growth markets and the natural exportable surplus.
The co-operative, a BCCM member, holds the largest share of the market in national grain exports, at around 32 per cent worth $3.15 billion. CBH Group also operates mills in South East Asia through Interflour, of which it owns 50 per cent of.