THE agricultural sector may have surrendered its status as the driving force behind Western Australia's export growth, but it continues to be a major contributor to the state.
THE agricultural sector may have surrendered its status as the driving force behind Western Australia's export growth, but it continues to be a major contributor to the state.
WA's agricultural sector generated exports of $5.45 billion last financial year, an increase of 10 per cent on the previous year.
This meant WA was currently responsible for 38 per cent of the nation's agriculture exports.
The biggest contributor continued to be wheat exports, which surged 52 per cent to $2.7 billion.
To put this in perspective, WA's wool exports, which were once the nation's mainstay, totalled just $300 million.
Canola exports delivered the highest rate of growth for the year with an 87 per cent increase to $535 million.
WA-produced canola has higher-than-average oil content, a factor contributing to the state's 50 per cent stake of national canola exports.
CBH marketing subsidiary, the Grain Pool, currently dominates WA's canola exports.
Currently, Pakistan, the Netherlands and Japan are the major markets for WA's oilseed crops.
Grain Pool and AWB Limited dominate the wheat export market.
The Grain Pool exported $2.4 billion worth of grain in 2009, a figure that equates to more than 5 million tonnes.
Following deregulation of the wheat export market, the two big players will face increased competition in future years from a raft of interstate and overseas players, including ABB Grain, Cargill, Elders, Glencore, GrainCorp, Louis Dreyfus and Riverina.
Industry players say farmers are still coming to grips with life in a deregulated market, which has implication for how they store, transport, sell and finance their activities.
Deregulation has also required CBH to gain approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for its port access arrangements, to ensure all exporters have equitable access.
CBH chief executive Andrew Crane welcomed the ACCC's approval of the port access arrangements, saying it gives WA growers certainty regarding the operations of WA's biggest grain storage, handling and marketing group.
"We are pleased the ACCC has acknowledged our ability and intent to provide fair and equitable access to all port users," he said.
Livestock export giant, Wellard, not only rules live meat exports around the nation, but has the lion's share of the livestock market in WA.
Live animal exports from WA rose 33 per cent to $487 million last year.
Perth-based Wellard, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, has bolstered its capacity with the introduction of two of the world's largest livestock vessels.
WA is the world's largest exporter of live animals, and while the demand for WA-grown sheep comes from the Middle East, Indonesia imports the majority of the state's cattle.
One of Wellard's main competitors in livestock exports is diversified agribusiness group Elders, which has been going through a major restructuring.
Elders reported a 22.7 per cent drop in national livestock export revenues for the last financial year, with $102.7 million in sales.
WA's meat exports rose 18.5 per cent last year to $459 million, ranking them close to livestock exports.
Harvey Beef continued to lead WA's beef exports in the 2009 fiscal year; the Singapore-owned business accounted for more than 50 per cent of the state's $137 million beef exports.
Pig meat production in WA accounts for 17.9 per cent of national produce.
The Craig Mostyn Group reported $50 million in revenue from its pork exports in 2009.
The company operates under the name Linley Valley and recently won a Hong Kong business award for its success in pork exports.
The Geraldton fisherman's cooperative has now taken ownership of the state's lobster industry, holding a monopoly on WA's export of the western rock lobster.
There has been a 13.7 per cent growth rate for the crustacean export industry this year, boasting $301 million of the state's agricultural exports.
Listed agribusiness group ABB Grain is Australia's largest exporter of wool.
The company reported $45 million in WA export revenues last financial year and is responsible for 15 per cent of the $300 million industry - a sector that has relished in a 6.9 per cent growth rate this year.
The 'other' export category added a combined revenue of $619 million to WA's exports.
Fruits, nuts and vegetables account for $88 million of agriculture exports, dairy products contribute $42 million, and wine was responsible for $38 million of 'other' revenue.
Despite the growth experienced across the agriculture sector, industry employment has taken a dive.
Employment in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors had a sharp increase from 36,000 in May 2008 to 50,000 by February of this year, but numbers fell back to 35,000 by May.
The agriculture industry was not the hardest hit in terms of employment over the year. The mining industry reported close to a 25 per cent employment drop, equating to almost 22,000 job losses in the 12 months to May 2009.
