Agribusiness buzz in brief

Assuming regulatory and state government approvals, the Kwinana site will be repurposed to produce renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel by 2026.

Kwinana is one of five biofuel projects BP has planned globally.

They are expected to produce around 50,000 barrels of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel each day by 2030.

The WA site's existing import terminal operations will be integrated into the biofuels venture, as will plans for green hydrogen production, which are now the subject of a feasibility study.

BP Australia president, Frederic Baudry, said the Kwinana project illustrated the power of the Australian economy and its ability to reinvent itself for the energy transition.

One of Australia's largest industry superannuation funds, Aware Super, has bolstered its stake in big grain industry player, United Malt Group, so it now almost rivals the shareholding held by UMG's parent, GrainCorp.

Aware's share buying run between September last year and early February has lifted its stake to more than 8.4 per cent, or 25.1 million shares.

GrainCorp, which split from its malt business in 2020, still owns 8.5pc of the business and is United Malt's second biggest shareholder.

Aware Super has about 1.1m members and $125 billion in retirement investment funds for its 1.1m members, who are primarily from the nursing, health care and health services sector.

United Malt's biggest shareholder, with almost 11pc, is Tanarra Capital, also a GrainCorp shareholder.

Bulk handling and marketing group Viterra, has refinanced and expanded its inventory financing arrangements to the cotton sector with a focus on encouraging sustainable farming practices in Australia and abroad.

Viterra buys agricultural commodities such as barley, wheat, canola and cotton from growers Australia-wide, supplying domestic and international customers across a range of industries.

With backing from from Commonwealth Bank of Australian, Viterra has refinanced with an $800 million syndicated Sustainability-Linked Borrowing Base Facility.

It has introduced a new sustainability target focused on promoting grower engagement with the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) and purchasing BCI-certified cotton.

The Better Cotton Initiative is a non-profit, multi-stakeholder governance group promoting better standards in cotton farming and practices in 21 countries.

The new target is in addition to Viterra's original focus on grower engagement with International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC), purchasing ISCC-certified Australian-grown grain, and securing protein meals for import into Australia, sourced from farms which follow sustainable practices, including non-deforestation.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is investigating how banks set interest rates for savers, including the difference between interest rate increases for bank deposits and home loans.

The federal government has directed the ACCC to commence the inquiry into Australia's $1.3 trillion retail savings and term deposit market.

"We welcome this direction to shine a light on the retail deposit market and rate-setting decisions of banks" said ACCC chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb.

In most cases banks had fully passed increases to their lending interest rates as the cash borrowing rate target set by the Reserve Bank of Australia lifted to 3.35 per cent, however, interest rates on deposit products appear to have seen smaller and less consistent rate rises.

In many cases, banks have only applied increases in the cash rate to some of their deposit products, often with conditions attached.

The ACCC can use compulsory information-gathering powers to source details from financial institutions including their decision making documents.

Dairy co-operative, Norco, is to promote online mental health support tools for regional communities on its bottled milk labels.

From March to May, Norco's two litre full cream and lite milk ranges will feature special labels and a QR code linking to bespoke mental health tools provided by the Black Dog Institute.

Additionally, during March and April, five cents from every Norco branded white milk purchased at Coles supermarkets will be donated to the Black Dog Institute.

The Black Dog Institute provides research, resources, and digital tools on mental health issues which are particularly essential in regional areas where access to traditional mental health support is limited.

Long serving chief executive officer at Marquis Macadamias, Larry McHugh, has been succeeded by the former general manager of Gympie based farmer co-operative, Suncoast Gold Macadamias, Ben Adam.

Grower-owned Marquis is the world's largest grower, processor and marketer of macadamias, with farmer members in NSW, Queensland and South Africa.

Mr Adams has had 20-plus years of senior management experience in agriculture, working domestically and overseas, including heading up a hybrid seed business operating in the US and Mexico.

He has been meeting with Marquis staff at the co-op's Lismore and Bundaberg processing sites and supplier shareholders.

Animal disease specialist, Dr Mark Cozens will be the new lead for Australia's Veterinary Emergency Plan (AUSVETPLAN).

Dr Cozens, a senior veterinarian with experience in both government and private sectors, has just joined Animal Health Australia to take the role from, Dr Peter Dagg.

He has worked overseas on responses such as foot-and-mouth disease and anthrax, and in Australia on responses to Newcastle disease, equine influenza, Hendra virus and white spot disease.

Animal Health Australia chief executive officer Kathleen Plowman said Dr Cozens had the expertise to ensure AHA's members are prepared and ready to respond in the event of an emergency disease outbreak.

AUSVETPLAN is Australia's game plan to an agreed approach around how emergency animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease and lumpy skin disease are combatted.

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