Bunge Australia Begins Construction of its First Storage Facility in Western Australia

New York-listed Bunge continued its expansion into Western Australia, with an announcement that it has begun construction on its first storage facility in the state at Kukerin, south-east of Perth. Once finished, the Kukerin site will boast 200,000 tons of grain storage in bunker sites, while a second storage facility, yet to be constructed at Arthur River will have even more grain storage at 250,000 tons. This launch by Bunge into Western Australia will signify the emergence of a serious rival to the state’s main grain handler, CBH Group.

"For us Western Australia is a very important part of what we're doing here in Australia," Bunge Australia general manager Chris Aucote tells ABC adding, "It's going to be an increase over time and we're certainly looking to increase the number of cargoes we've done this year and hopefully look to increase that by 50 to 100 percent over the next 12 months."

In mid-2014, the company completed its bulk grain facility at Bunbury Port, where the shiploader has a capacity of approximately 1 million tons, however, the facility is engineered for possible future expansion. Since it became operational, seven shipments of grain totaling 250,000 tons have been exported through the site.