It’s important AgForce celebrates the wins in rural advocacy – and the recent bulk grain export directly from the Port of Townsville is a huge coup for north Queensland.
This was a historic event for grain production in the state as it’s the first ever bulk shipment out of the north, and the result of years of work behind the scenes.
Previously anything that was grown in the north had to be freighted south or containerised for export at significant cost and delay for local growers.
This first bulk shipment of 38,5000mt of chickpeas from North and Central Queensland producers headed straight to India and Pakistan – and is a significant milestone for the region’s agricultural and logistics industries.
I remember the first crop of chick peas that I saw in the Julia Creek/Richmond area was back in 2017 – which is not that long ago.
And we’ve come a long way in the short time since then.
This export gives the Townsville Port another reason to exist as well, so it’s not just shipping sugar cane or coal. Now it can be a grain export facility as well.
Now we’ve got significant tonnages coming from the same region, it’s opened up this opportunity to aggregate and ship from Townsville Port.
It’s all about critical mass and it makes so much sense that there’s a port that can be utilised, reducing the food miles the grain has to travel and making use of existing facilities.
And this could open up other possibilities for summer crops as well. It’s just a really good news story for the whole region and from a cropping sense, growing grain of any sort up there in an area that’s traditionally been for grazing provides feed lotting opportunities as well.
With this successful inaugural shipment, we are now looking to support infrastructure improvements at the Port of Townsville so they can bulk export other commodities such as sorghum, as well as import products like fertiliser.
We need to thank the growers in North QLD for having a red hot crack, and we also need to thank Sizer & Coggill for their commitment to industry in the north and believing in their vision.
The Port of Townsville offers significant advantages for grain transport logistics, as it can receive product from inland farms from triple and even quad road trains. While the port doesn’t yet have permanent bulk grain loading infrastructure, there is mobile ship-loading equipment that enables shipments to proceed smoothly.
And congratulations to Richmond Shire Council for getting on board with diversification in the Richmond Shire and being part of the chickpea story.
In it’s first full season the shire has grown and sold thousands of tonnes of chickpeas – generating more than $300,000 in income and reducing their reliance on state grants and mining royalties. It’s had wide media coverage this week on ABC Radio and television, as it should.
This really is the beginning of an exciting new era for grain exports from North Queensland. It’s a win not just for individual producers but for the whole supply chain.
