The 30,000 tonne cargo is owned by Grain Pool subsidiary AgraCorp and the shipment left the Geraldton port bound for Indonesia.

WA Grain Pool general manager Brian Mumme said AgraCorp’s achievement in exporting the first cargo of new crop reflected its commitment to become a leading exporter of wheat on behalf of WA growers.

“This shipment demonstrates that we have been preparing in advance a wheat export marketing program, backed by the group’s finance capacity, to ensure that growers have secure access to the key international markets,” Mr Mumme said.

“We have the first runs on the board under the new deregulated environment.”

The shipment is also the first assembled under Grain Express, the new industry initiative which bundles grain storage, handling and freight, creating a simpler logistics system to cope with many more grain acquirers.

CBH executive manager logistics Tim Collins said the operation demonstrated the ability of Grain Express to keep WA’s harvest on track under the newly deregulated system.

“The existence of Grain Express has ensured that the cargo has been loaded and is on its way early into harvest,” Mr Collins said.

“We have been able to load a vessel early with the new season’s grades necessary to keep the harvest moving.”

The vessel, Bogasari Dua, took just over a day to load the 30,000 tonne cargo which AgraCorp has assembled for one of its key customers, Indonesian flour milling group Bogasari.