CBH Group breaks ground on new Kwinana fertiliser facility

The CBH Group is pleased to announce that construction has commenced at its new granular and liquid fertiliser Urea Ammonium Nitrate (UAN) storage facility, located adjacent to the Kwinana Grain Terminal. 

CBH Chief Executive Officer Ben Macnamara said the milestone is an exciting step towards delivering significant benefits to Western Australian grain growers. 

“The facility will enable the expansion of our fertiliser business, which last year achieved a 47 per cent increase in sales,” said Mr Macnamara.  

“This new phase of growth will see the business enter the liquid fertiliser market for the first time, and expand its granular fertiliser offering to provide consistency of supply and deliver on our strategy to reduce on-farm input costs for Western Australian grain growers.”  

CBH’s Head of Fertiliser David Pritchard was excited for the opportunities presented by the development. 

“We’ve seen demand for fertiliser, particularly UAN, grow exponentially in recent years, with the existing market struggling to keep pace during key times,” said Mr Pritchard. 

“This new facility will enable us to bring surety of supply to growers, and the efficiencies gained through leveraging CBH’s supply chain will be passed along to growers, bringing further competitiveness to the market. 

Overall, the 70,000m2 development includes construction of: 

• A UAN ship unloading and transfer pipeline, which runs along the existing Kwinana Grain Terminal jetty 
• approximately 55,000 tonnes of granular fertiliser storage in a new warehouse  
• 32,000 tonnes of UAN storage in two 16,000 tonne storage tanks, and administration office, landscaping, and security. 

The facility has been designed to provide for further expansion opportunities in future, enabling the business to expand with the continually increasing WA grower demand for CBH fertiliser.  

The construction schedule will see the UAN storage tanks completed first, with construction due to be completed in 2023.  

CBH awarded the project construction contract to Western Australian construction firm Kerman Contracting Pty Ltd.  

Ben Macnamara said that Kerman’s extensive experience with bulk storage and materials facilities made them an ideal partner for the project. 

“CBH has a long history of working with Kerman’s across a number of projects and we look forward to another high-quality, successful facility being completed,” said Mr Macnamara. 

Kerman’s Managing Director Chris Kerman commented that “following a rigorous tender and design process, Kerman is excited to commence work on this exciting project for CBH.  

“With a history of delivering projects for CBH over 25 years, CBH remain one of our most important clients,” said Mr Kerman.