PORTLAND, OREGON, U.S. — The CBH Group said on Sept. 15 that it has opened a new international office in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The Portland office is located in the pacific northwest grain growing region and has been established to strengthen CBH’s multi-origin trading platform, the company said. 

Marketing and Trading General Manager Jason Craig said that trading grain out of Portland will allow CBH to offer US and Canadian wheat to key customers in the Asian region, to compliment Australian wheat grades in their flour milling process.

“CBH currently has a strong advantage in the Asian region and has well established relationships with end-users. We have offices in Hong Kong and Japan and key investments in the flour milling industry through Interflour,” Craig said. “The Portland office will just enable us to further strengthen our trading and marketing relationships in the region and service our customer’s requirements with origination from multiple locations.

“As we all know the Asian region is growing at a phenomenal pace and the demand for grain based products is increasing year on year.  It is expected that there will be an 11mmt increase in demand for wheat by the region over the next 5 years and CBH has worked hard to be in the position to capitalize on the regions requirements.”

Since deregulation, CBH has grown its customer base to span 260 customers over 30 countries, trading roughly 7 million tonnes a year.  

Last year the CBH Group became the first Australian trading company to gain accreditation from the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) to import wheat directly into Japan, allowing participation in the MAFF wheat tender process.

Craig said this accreditation will now allow us to be the first Australian grain company to trade wheat from the U.S. directly through the MAFF tender system. 

“We are excited about the future of the grain industry in Asia and the Portland office adds another link in our network to service the region.”

CBH Group wheat trader Sam Nottle has been appointed as the senior commodity trader and will head up the Portland operation.  Nottle has been with CBH since 2008 working in the areas of finance and trading and will locate to Portland in early 2014.

“Sam Nottle is an asset to our team and we are excited to have him working for us in our new US office,” Craig said.