CBH maintains export market share

CBH Group continued to be WA's dominant grain exporter in 2020-21 with 55 per cent market share, but production from the state fell below the level of New South Wales for the first time since 2012-13.

Compiled by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the report examines the nature and concentration of export activity across the country’s bulk grain port terminals.

CBH Group’s market share in WA remained unchanged at 55 per cent from this year to last, up from 49 per cent in 2018-19.

The most recent result is just one percentage point behind its record market share of 56 per cent in 2013-14. 

Competitor Viterra increased its market share by 4 percentage points to 18 per cent, due to small decreases in the market shares of GrainCorp, Cargill and Emerald Grain.

GrainCorp’s share decreased from 12 per cent in 2019-20 to 10 per cent in 2020-21.

Cargill held 3 per cent in 2020-21 and Emerald was responsible for 2 per cent.

A group of smaller exporters had 12 per cent of the market in 2020-21.

The share of the market held by the smaller players has halved in the past five years, from 24 per cent.

The report also found CBH Group’s Kwinana port was responsible for 38 per cent of the throughput, making it the largest export facility in WA.

The Kwinana facility had peak utilisation levels of 87 per cent, compared to CBH’s other port terminals: Albany (97 per cent), Esperance (98 per cent), Geraldton (98 per cent).

WAPRES’s Bunbury port facility had a peak period utilisation was at 69 per cent. It accounted for 4 per cent of throughput in 2020-21.

WA normally ships more grain than any other state, responsible for an average of 35 per cent of national production and 52 per cent of total bulk shipments since 2011-12.

However, in 2020-21, WA produced less grain than New South Wales for the first time since 2012-13.

Bulk shipments from WA reached the highest level on record at 14.5 million tonnes, exceeding the previous record of 14.4 million tonnes in 2016-17.

Domestic consumption increased by 21 per cent to 1.5 million tonnes, just 2 per cent above 2018-19 levels.