Dear Charlie,
I get a real charge out of livestock producers who refuse to step up and buy grain in the competitive market... who have been sheltered by AWB/CWB pools for decades!
No wonder we have a surplus of meat and problems in this sector!
"Copyright 2008 West Australian NewsPapers Limited
All Rights Reserved
The West Australian (Perth)
July 16, 2008 Wednesday
First Edition
MAI; Pg. 54
407 words
Grains Express plan 'an abuse'
TRACEY COOK
One of the State's biggest agribusiness groups, Milne AgriGroup, has criticised CBH's controversial Grains Express proposal, describing the logistics plan as an "abuse of market power".
In its submission to the national competition watchdog, Milne, which owns Mt Barker Chicken and Pegasus Feed, rejected the CBH proposal on the basis that its export-focused logistics system would penalise domestic buyers and effectively require local buyers to subsidise the costs of grain traders.
"This type of exercise of monopoly power by the CBH Group is highly prejudicial to domestic grain buyers as it increases their costs and carbon footprint," Milne told the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
"While we appreciate that the CBH Group wishes to improve the efficiency of exporting for their export grain trading operation, domestic grain buyers such as us also utilise such grains for value-added production in Australia," it said.
The ACCC is processing industry submissions on the CBH proposal ahead of an anticipated ruling next month.
While designed to deliver a more efficient logistics system in the new deregulated wheat marketing environment, Grains Express has attracted some controversy over its bid for total control of WA's grain supply chain.
The key plank of the plan is management of transport, in addition to the storage and handling services CBH already offers, and requires the approval of the ACCC.
Farmers' group the WA Farmers Federation also has reservations. The WAFF submission called for a restructure of the $2.5 billion CBH co-operative to hive off its commercial arms, Grainpool, Agracorp and Pacific Agrifood, from its storage, handling and transport divisions.
"WAFarmers has determined that, in order to overcome any anti-competitive elements with the CBH Group application, it is essential that CBH should begin to effectively separate the group into two discrete businesses," the farmers' group said in its ACCC submission.
However, a clutch of WA grain groups, including GrainCorp, Elders Toepfer Grain and National Agricultural Commodities & Marketing Association, have registered their support for the concept.
Elders said Grains Express would "deliver an efficient supply chain system from growers into the export ship".
Not all aspects of Grains Express will require ACCC approval and CBH plans to stage a series of grower briefings later this month in preparation for the first harvest under deregulation.
July 15, 2008"
http://www.world-grain.com/news/newsfinder.asp?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgI d=586&docId=l:822374537&topicId=14429&start=8&topi cs=single
I get a real charge out of livestock producers who refuse to step up and buy grain in the competitive market... who have been sheltered by AWB/CWB pools for decades!
No wonder we have a surplus of meat and problems in this sector!
"Copyright 2008 West Australian NewsPapers Limited
All Rights Reserved
The West Australian (Perth)
July 16, 2008 Wednesday
First Edition
MAI; Pg. 54
407 words
Grains Express plan 'an abuse'
TRACEY COOK
One of the State's biggest agribusiness groups, Milne AgriGroup, has criticised CBH's controversial Grains Express proposal, describing the logistics plan as an "abuse of market power".
In its submission to the national competition watchdog, Milne, which owns Mt Barker Chicken and Pegasus Feed, rejected the CBH proposal on the basis that its export-focused logistics system would penalise domestic buyers and effectively require local buyers to subsidise the costs of grain traders.
"This type of exercise of monopoly power by the CBH Group is highly prejudicial to domestic grain buyers as it increases their costs and carbon footprint," Milne told the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
"While we appreciate that the CBH Group wishes to improve the efficiency of exporting for their export grain trading operation, domestic grain buyers such as us also utilise such grains for value-added production in Australia," it said.
The ACCC is processing industry submissions on the CBH proposal ahead of an anticipated ruling next month.
While designed to deliver a more efficient logistics system in the new deregulated wheat marketing environment, Grains Express has attracted some controversy over its bid for total control of WA's grain supply chain.
The key plank of the plan is management of transport, in addition to the storage and handling services CBH already offers, and requires the approval of the ACCC.
Farmers' group the WA Farmers Federation also has reservations. The WAFF submission called for a restructure of the $2.5 billion CBH co-operative to hive off its commercial arms, Grainpool, Agracorp and Pacific Agrifood, from its storage, handling and transport divisions.
"WAFarmers has determined that, in order to overcome any anti-competitive elements with the CBH Group application, it is essential that CBH should begin to effectively separate the group into two discrete businesses," the farmers' group said in its ACCC submission.
However, a clutch of WA grain groups, including GrainCorp, Elders Toepfer Grain and National Agricultural Commodities & Marketing Association, have registered their support for the concept.
Elders said Grains Express would "deliver an efficient supply chain system from growers into the export ship".
Not all aspects of Grains Express will require ACCC approval and CBH plans to stage a series of grower briefings later this month in preparation for the first harvest under deregulation.
July 15, 2008"
http://www.world-grain.com/news/newsfinder.asp?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgI d=586&docId=l:822374537&topicId=14429&start=8&topi cs=single