GrainCorp seeks wheat export permits

The total 230,000 tonnes of wheat will be shipped
to existing customers in Japan, Europe, Indonesia and Malaysia.

The office of the Australian Agriculture Minister
Peter McGauran was unable to confirm whether these were the first export
applications since Mr McGauran was given power of veto for wheat exports – an
interim measure while the future of AWBI single desk is
considered.

It was also unable to say if a quick response to
GrainCorp was likely, but hoped to make an announcement “in the coming
days”.

High quality Australian
wheat

If the permits are approved, Grain Corp will be able to
offer growers a $15 per tonne premium on the current AWBI national pool
estimate.

GrainCorp managing director Tom Keene said the
permits provided the opportunity to offer higher net returns to Australian
growers and also enabled Australia to continue to supply long
standing important international customers.

“A number of our major international customers are
seeking to secure high quality Australian wheat for their milling operations,”
Mr Keene said.

“If we do not supply these markets, then other
countries may be able to capture market share, which may later be difficult to
regain.”