An $8.8 million grain shipment is scheduled to leave the Port of Timaru this week bound for Saudi Arabia for use as stock and poultry feed, a local newspaper in Timaru, central South Island of New Zealand reported on Tuesday. The cargo of 22,000 tons of seed barley aboard the Ikan Serong is the most expensive shipment to be exported through the port and is the first grain export in almost a decade, it said. About 20 different trucking companies are bringing the seed from around the central South Island grain growing area, from the south of Christchurch into North Otago. The ship will see about 400 trucks bringing 10,000 tons of grain, with a further 12,000 tons coming from the port's silos, before it leaves. Barley crops are currently earning about $400 a ton. PrimePort general manager marketing Bruce McDougall said the ship is being loaded at Timaru because it has the facilities to cope with the load. “Timaru has the only dedicated grain handling facilities in New Zealand and this is about the first export shipment for about seven years.” “We will be (loading 24 hours a day) as long as trucks can keep up with our load rate. Loading on to the ship runs faster than we can unload the trucks,” he said. Each truck carries about 25 tons of barley. However, only two trucks can unload their cargo at the same time. While at times there was a wait for trucks to unload the grain, McDougall said it was more economic to make them wait rather than the ship. “We make the trucks wait instead of the ship because a ship costs a lot more money to run.” About 10 trucks could be unloaded in an hour, with about 250 tons of grain per hour being loaded into the vessel, he said. McDougall said the favorable price of grain had made it economic for Saudi Arabia to import the product from New Zealand. Grain merchants AAB Grain Ltd is organizing the export and said a number of factors had resulted in Saudi Arabia sourcing the grain from New Zealand. Marketing manager New Zealand for ABB Grain Ltd Michael Reeves, said about five million tons of barley from the Europe, the Black Sea and Australia is normally imported into Saudi Arabia. “Last year we had a small barley crop out of Europe and the Black Sea and then Australia had a drought. The barley market just exploded.” That means New Zealand is a viable source for the crop. While a continued trade with Saudi Arabia would be pleasing, Reeves said this export of 22,000 tons of grain may just be a one-off, adding the overseas price for grain may not be high enough to warrant exporting it. However, McDougall said he hopes this will not be the last Timaru sees of grain exports. “We're hopeful that it may turn into future business and the important thing is it opens up another avenue for the arable farmers of South Canterbury.” South Canterbury Federated Farmers grain and seed chair Jeremy Talbot said he was also pleased with the volume of barley being exported. “It's a good thing. It's reinforcing that as far as the port's concerned the infrastructure will be kept there.” The Ikan Serong left Timaru Wednesday, bound for Gove in Australia where it will be loaded to capacity. It will then carry on to Damman, Saudi Arabia, the report said. __
