T-Ports has opposed Viterra’s bid to buy grain storage and handling sites in South Australia

T-Ports has lodged a submission with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission opposing Viterra’s proposed acquisition of Cargill’s GrainFlow assets in South Australia.

The MV Lucky Eyre being loaded with barley for export at T-Ports’ Lucky Bay port on the Eyre Peninsula. Photo: Mark Thomas, Missing Link Media.

T-Ports has lodged a submission with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission opposing Viterra’s proposed acquisition of Cargill’s GrainFlow assets in South Australia.

Viterra in September announced it had struck an agreement with Cargill to acquire five storage and handling sites across SA and western Victoria as well as a mobile ship loader.

The sites in question are the GrainFlow sites at Maitland, Crystal Brook, Mallala, Pinnaroo and Dimboola, as well as the mobile ship loader at Port Adelaide.

Viterra said growers would get a direct benefit from the deal, with reduced freight rates due to efficiencies.

“Bringing the sites into the Viterra network will result in reduced freight rates by 15 per cent at Mallala, Crystal Brook and Pinnaroo and 25 per cent at Dimboola and Maitland and provide opportunities for freight efficiency gains across other central and eastern region rail sites, with Viterra passing savings to growers,’’ the company said.

The ACCC is examining the deal, and was accepting submissions until October 24.

T-Ports said it had concerns including that the deal would give Viterra a monopoly on up-country grain storage on the Yorke Peninsula with resultant flow-on effects to Viterra ports.

It was also concerned that should the deal go through, Viterra would have a “virtual monopoly at Port Adelaide, with Viterra owning three export pathways from the port’’.

“A return to the Viterra monopoly will be bad for competition and bad for growers, families and communities across the Yorke and Eyre peninsulas,’’ T-Ports chief executive Nathan Kent said.

“It represents an attempt by global mega companies to eliminate local competition, which will only drive prices down at the farmgate.

“We will be urging the ACCC to push back on the Viterra monopoly and back competition instead, and we’re encouraging growers and regional communities to do the same.”

Mallala farmer John Lush said he was also opposed to the return of the Viterra monopoly. “The thing we haven’t learned in Australia is that real competition doesn’t exist in many areas,’’ Mr Lush said.

“Look at Coles and Woolworths or Qantas and Virgin. “This proposal will lessen competition in storage and handling.

“This is about Viterra taking more control, and that’s not what any farmer in this district wants, particularly when we’re facing a bad season where we need to make every dollar count.”

The ACCC is expecting to make an announcement regrading iots findings on the deal on December 19.

This could be a final decision or the release of a statement of issues.

Originally published as T-Ports has opposed Viterra’s bid to buy grain storage and handling sites in South Australia