Plenty to celebrate at opening of CBH Group’s $59 million Kwinana fertiliser facility

There was plenty to celebrate when CBH Group officially opened its Kwinana fertiliser facility — the biggest single construction project since the farmer-owned cooperative broke ground on the Kwinana Grain Terminal in 1969.

CBH Group staff — including plenty from its CBH Fertiliser division — gathered for the opening on March 17 inside the towering shed that will be used to store granular fertiliser.

Located next to CBH’s Kwinana Grain Terminal, the new facility has capacity to store 32,000 tonnes of urea ammonium nitrate (liquid fertiliser) and 55,000 tonnes of bulk granular fertiliser.

The $59 million facility is hoped to turbocharge CBH Group’s foothold in the competitive fertiliser market as it eyes a goal of having 15 per cent market share in WA’s fertiliser space by 2033.

The event kicked off with a welcome to country by Noongar traditional owner Robyn Collard before presentations from CBH Group chair Simon Stead, WA Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis and Brand MP Madeleine King.

After the presentations, guests split into two groups for a tour of the facility and then mingled for morning tea.

Ms King told crowds the terminal and fertiliser facilities would “feed the world” and the new fertiliser facility was a welcome addition to the Kwinana Industrial Area.

The event was held 14 months after the sod-turning event in January last year, with the project carried out by WA construction firm Kerman Contracting.