Bumper Crop for Cotton Exports

8 March 2001

The Port of Brisbane Corporation is looking forward to celebrating this year's bumper cotton crop with the cotton farmers of Queensland and New South Wales at Dalby Cotton Week.

Once again the Corporation is a five-star supporter of the 10 days of festivities, sponsoring the opening dinner and also providing its 20-seater bus as part of the St Patrick's Day Harvest Festival Parade.

Port of Brisbane Corporation Chief Executive Officer, Graham Mulligan, said that forecasts for this season predict a cotton crop of 3.2 million bales, with over 50% of the product exported through the Port of Brisbane.

"We are well prepared to accommodate this tonnage. During the past year a number of infrastructure projects have been completed at the port, including a fifth shed for Island Packing & Storage and P&O Trans Australia's consolidation of its cotton-packing and storage facilities on Fisherman Islands," he said.

Island Packing & Storage now has close to 20,000m² of specialised commodity warehousing, capable of storing and packing cotton and cotton seed, coarse grains and paper. The new 3,800m² shed features state-of-the-art bagging and bulk containerisation packing systems. Since the facility opened in April 1999, it has outstripped growth projections handling over 250,000 tonnes of cotton, cotton seed, paper and grains in 2000.

P&O Trans Australia opened its first cotton sheds on Fisherman Islands in July 2000. The $2.6 million investment comprises two 3,000m² sheds connected by a 1,500m² handling area, with the capacity to store 30,000 cotton bales and handle a throughput of 100,000 bales per year.

"We are committed to working with our customers to help them meet their challenges and grow their businesses. During the 2000 season, the Corporation also worked closely with Colly Cotton to promote its Brisbane throughput and successfully increase its exports by an additional 1,246 feus*," Mr Mulligan said.

* forty foot equivalent units