AWB CALLS FOR TIGHTER WHEAT QUALITY CONTROLS

  Australia is risking wheat export
  sales by not providing enough specific quality grades to meet
  buyer requirements, the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) said.
      "Many AWB customers are becoming increasingly quality
  conscious, demanding strict adherence to contractual quality
  specifications," the board said in a submission to the Royal
  Commission into Grain Storage, Handling and Transport.
      "Many of the specifications are more specific than the
  current categories used in Australia," it said.
      The commission is trying to identify ways of saving costs
  and boosting efficiency of the grain handling system.
      Australia must rely on quality to retain its wheat market
  share because its competitors are supplying cheaper but
  lower-quality grades, the AWB submission said.
      It stressed the need to segregate wheat categories at every
  stage from receival to shipping.
      Better industrial relations at grain terminals, more
  uniform transport systems across the states and extensive stock
  control were vital to improved marketing, it said.
      The submission also said Australia's federal system impeded
  the AWB's role of coordinating and managing the marketing of
  wheat.
      The AWB called for an end to physical and legislative
  constraints at state borders that prevent the efficient
  transport of grains to other states for shipment.
      "It is essential that wheat moves by the most economic mode
  to the nearest efficient port, irrespective of the state in
  which the wheat is grown or stored," it said.
      For example, wheat grown in northern New South Wales (NSW)
  might move more efficiently to Brisbane, in Queensland, than to
  Sydney or Newcastle in New South Wales, it said. Similarly,
  southern NSW wheat might better be shipped to Portland or
  Geelong, in Victoria.
      Legislation giving state rail authorities a monopoly over
  grain shipments was one notable impediment, it said.
      The AWB said the current approach of state-based bulk
  handling authorities is not essential, although it said it
  favoured the authorities maintaining at least their current
  level of control of storage and transport as long as quality
  was maintained.
      An appendix on port loading costs showed it cost between
  26,500 and 34,700 U.S. Dlrs to load a 50,000-tonne vessel at
  various Australian ports compared with 21,200 dlrs at Houston
  and 16,300 at Port Cartier, Quebec, for a 60,000-tonner.
  

