Australia: ABB invests in grower efficiency

ABB Grain is investing $3.5 million into upgrading its mobile fleet of bunker storage intake equipment across South Australia, in preparation for the next harvest, ABB announced on April 18.

The investment includes the purchase of seven new Drive- Over- Hopper (DOH) and stacker units and upgrades for 14 existing units.

The new units will be used to speed up turnaround times and improve operational efficiency, enhancing services for growers at ABB�s key strategic sites.

ABB Grain managing director, Michael Iwaniw, said the investment in new equipment was in response to growers needs and will result in improved turnaround times for growers at harvest.

�As growers continue to invest in machinery that increases their capacity to reap and deliver their crop, ABB needs to increase storage innovation in order to maintain adequate service levels.

�The new equipment and upgrades to existing machines will significantly improve intake operations at ABB�s strategic sites where bunker storage is widely utilised� he said.

The new investment will also enable ABB to offer more segregations to growers and customers, as the demand to segregate commodities increases.

This extra expenditure is in addition to approximately $12 million that has already been invested this year into the upgrading of ABB�s existing storage and handling infrastructure in South Australia.

This does not include ABB�s major investment of $100 million into construction of the deep-sea shipping terminal at Outer Harbor, due for completion in late 2007.