WEST PERTH, AUSTRALIA — The CBH Group said on Nov. 17 that it is set to execute Australia’s largest ever shipment of canola this week.

The vessel is likely to reach 77,000 tonnes of canola to be shipped from the CBH Kwinana Port. If conditions are favorable, it’s possible the ship may load 80,000 tonnes, making it the largest ever grain shipment out of Western Australia.

The previous record was set in December 2012, when 64,804 tonnes were shipped on board the MV Lyric Sun. CBH Group General Manager Marketing and Trading Jason Craig said the record shipment comes after a year of records for CBH.

“This is a fantastic milestone for the CBH Group and further strengthens our position as the number one exporter of Australian grain in addition to being the largest canola exporter in Australia.We traded 10 million tonnes last financial year and more than 6 million tonnes of that grain was shipped to CBH Marketing and Trading customers from around the world,” said Craig.

The vessel, MV Harvest Frost, started loading on Nov. 15 at the Kwinana port. The non-GM canola is destined for Europe, Craig said. The CBH Group Trading Manager for Protein and Oilseeds Dane Robertson said Europe is a major destination for Australian canola.

“Last year CBH Marketing and Trading sold and shipped over 700,000 tonnes to European customers. Canola production in WA has increased significantly over the past five years with a record production of around 1.8 million tonnes last year; this year production will be down slightly to around 1.5 million tonnes. Shipments to Europe are likely to be lower this year as Europe enjoyed a good local production reducing import requirements,” said Robertson.

The CBH Group Chartering and Shipping Manager Ben Geneve said the Post Panamax vessel will take approximately 35 days to travel from Kwinana to Europe.

“It’s great to have the flexibility to manage various types of ships and offer marketers more options in handling the large export task,” said Geneve. “The CBH Group continues to look at maximising value through reduced supply chain cost to both our growers and customers by looking at ways to increase vessel sizes where economically feasible.”