Cargill and CBH Group are working together on plans for a large-scale oilseed crushing plant south of Perth as they look to cash in on growing demand for biofuels.
The Minnesota-headquartered commodities trader is in talks with the West Australian government about securing a site adjacent to CBH’s Kwinana grain terminal which sits on a rail line able to supply canola grown on farms in the state’s vast wheat belt region.
Cargill is looking to process canola grown on WA farms into oil for the booming biofuel market. Bloomberg
The Cargill move to boost its farm-related infrastructure footprint in Australia comes as two other global agribusiness giants – Olam and Louis Dreyfus – are locked in a takeover battle for Namoi Cotton and its east coast food and fibre assets.
The combination of Cargill and CBH, the country’s largest co-operative, could supply a biofuel production hub earmarked for BP’s former oil import terminal at Kwinana.
It also shapes as a blow to GrainCorp’s plans to build an oilseed crushing plant in WA. The ASX-listed east coast grain handling heavyweight flagged it would spend several hundred million dollars on a plant in WA and has been in negotiations about securing a site, canola supply and a partnership with BP and others.
by AFR
