THE CBH Group will spend $15 million expanding its Metro Grain Centre in Forrestfield as part of a joint arrangement with ABB Grain. The two-year expansion will include the construction of a lupin dehulling plant, a new container loader, and upgrades to equipment servicing Joe White Maltings. The CBH move coincides with the $40 million investment by ABB Grain Ltd to double the size of its adjacent Forrestfield Joe White Maltings plant, to 200,000 tonnes malt capacity. CBH Group CEO Imre Mencshelyi said the expansion further consol-idated the relationship between the group and ABB Grain Ltd, Australia’s largest barley exporter and parent company of Joe White Maltings. “These developments signal a strong growth and expansion within the grains industry and will help to secure the future for WA barley growers,” he said. Joe White Maltings chief operating officer Andrew Gee believes the expansion will enable the company to better service the growing Asian malt markets. “Not only do we have a geographical advantage in the Asian region over supplies from Europe or Canada, but being strategically located adjacent to the CBH Group’s Metro Grain Centre also gives us an advantage,” he said.
