Emerald deal to continue meteoric growth
15 March 2010
Source: Stock and Land
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Sumitomo stake a fillip for farmers
9 March 2010
Source: The Advertiser
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Emerald Group Partners Sumitomo
5 March 2010
Source: Farm Weekly
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Emerald wins Sumitomo backing
5 March 2010
Source: The West Australian
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Sumitomo buys into Emerald
5 March 2010
Source: The Weekly Times
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Grain handlers cleared by ACCC to keep exporting wheat
30 September 2009
Source: ABC Rural, by Will Ockenden
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has formally approved the port access applications of the nation's bulk grain handling companies.
Related audio - Mike Chaseling, Emerald Deputy Chairman, talks to Will Ockenden
Wheat Prices
15 September 2009
Source: WIN News
WA State Manager, Rob Proud, discusses current grain market prices and conditions.
ABB grain could be sold
28 April 2009
Source: ABC Rural, by Will Ockenden
An international company has offered to buy bulk grain handler and exporter ABB Grain for more than a billion dollars.
Canadian group Viterra has offered ABB Grain between $9.00 and $9.50 a share for the whole company.
ABB Grain has previously been courted by AWB Ltd, but talks fell over late last year.
ABB Grain's Managing Director Michael Iwaniw says the offer from Viterra comes in form of cash and Viterra shares.
"There's no guarantee an agreement will be reached, that discussion process will take place between our organisation," he says.
Grains market analyst Malcolm Bartholomeus says a deal would be good for the Australian grains market.
"Viterra is similar to ABB Grain," he says.
"They would see it as a complimentary business, similar to what they are doing in the Canadian market. It would be a neat fit and would cover global markets."
In this report: ABB Grain's Managing Director Michael Iwaniw; Grains market analyst Malcolm Bartholomeus; Deputy chairman of grain exporter Emerald Grain Mike Chaseling
Kondinin Group's Farming Ahead - April 2009
Emerald corporate profile - click here to view
Feedgrain prices outlook not bright
16 January 2009
Source: Queensland Countryhour, ABC Radio, By Mitch Grayson
It doesn't come as a surprise to hear sorghum prices are low, but the forecast for the next 12 months isn't to much better.
A massive storage of feed grain, both wheat and sorghum remains in silos around the country.
And the international market is as flat as its been in years.
Mike Chaseling from the Emerald Group says it doesn't look too bright for the next year or so the only saving grace is the australian dollar is on the grain growers side.
In this report: Mike Chaseling, Deputy Chair, Emerald Group. To listen click here
Crop outlook boosted by rain
6 January 2008
By Bruce Hextall of Reuters
SYDNEY - Rain across northern Australia plus the possibility of greater-than-normal rainfall in key cropping areas in 2009 has boosted prospects for bumper harvests this year.
Industry participants said on Tuesday that summer crops such as cotton would be much larger than last year's drought-affected returns, although still smaller than long-term averages.
Much of northern Australia has received more rain in the past week than it did for the whole of 2008.
Australia's Bureau of Meteorology is also forecasting higher than normal rainfall over the first three months of 2009 in south-eastern Western Australia, as well as the northern part of New South Wales state and southeast Queensland state, all key crop growing areas.
"It has been a fairly kind spring and fairly kind summer so far. Generally everything is in pretty fair condition," said Rob Imray, general manager of agricultural marketing company Farmarco, headquartered in the southeast Queensland city of Toowoomba.
He said there were also some indications of a La Nina weather pattern that would bring more rain to northern Australia.
La Nina is a global ocean-atmosphere phenomenon that causes the tropical Pacific waters to cool, usually bringing more rain to northern Australia.
In southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales, Imray said farmers were looking forward to a second season of better-than-average summer crops, having harvested a reasonable winter crop of wheat in between.
"For our dryland growers, they've generally had better moisture profiles in the last nine or 12 months - the profiles for summer and going into the next winter crop are in pretty good shape," said Mr Imray.
Industry body Cotton Australia said 161,000 hectares of cotton had been planted, well up on the 60,000 hectares planted in 2007/08 although still below an average annual planting of 350,000 hectares.
Cotton Australia chief executive Adam Kay said the crop was expected to yield 1.2 million to 1.3 million bales, up 120 per cent from last year but still below a 10-year average of 2.38 million bales.
Mr Kay said water storage dams in cotton growing areas had in many cases gone from being 30 per cent full to 40 per cent or more full, which would encourage larger plantings for the 2009/10 crop.
"We've still got a crop that's probably a third of normal but its much up on last year and we're enjoying this better summer weather pattern," he said.
Alan Winney, chairman of grain marketing company Emerald Group , said better seasonal conditions were coinciding with signs of improvement in soft commodity prices.
"We're starting to see grain prices pick up a little bit now - right across the soft commodities there's a reasonably tight stocks worldwide and, at some point, fundamentals will come back into the market," said Mr Winney.
He said improved prices and better seasonal conditions meant farmers were likely to plant more crops, setting Australia up for a second year of more normal agricultural output after two years of devastating drought.
"The outlook is pretty positive for southern Queensland and the top half of New South Wales so we might see some crops produced that we haven't seen for several years," said Mr Winney.
Source: Business Spectator
Emerald Deputy Chair discusses industry merger
Source: ABC Rural Queensland Country Hour
By Robin McConchie , Tuesday, 02/12/2008
The Australian grains industry is keenly observing every move towards a possible merger of ABB and AWB Ltd.
The two companies announced to the Stock Exchange last Friday they were in discussion.
While the possible merger has been in the wind for some time, constitutional changes at AWB in recent months have now made it possible
The Emerald Group operates grain pools for wheat, barley and canola and its Deputy Chairman, Mike Chaseling, says there are positives in a merger of ABB and AWB Ltd including cost savings.
But, he says, some growers may be concerned about the downside which is fewer buyers competing for their grain, particularly in the eastern states.
Mr Chaseling saysthe logistics of getting grain from the farm to the boat and the demise of rail and the ports is a national concern.
In this report: Mike Chaseling, Deputy Chairman, Emerald Group. To listen click here
ABC TV Landline: Trading Places
Featuring Mike Chaseling, Emerald Deputy Chairman
Reporter: Chris Clark
First Published: 03/08/2008
