New approach creating new opportunities at Port of Esperance

Flexible operations at the Port of Esperance are opening new markets for regional growers following Esperance Quality Grains’ first use of a mobile shiploader at the Port.

The locally owned and operated grain export business loaded its first bulk vessel using the shiploader in late April, before a second successful operation in mid-May.

Southern Ports Chief Executive Officer Keith Wilks said having the flexibility to work with customers as they develop new approaches to trade was vital for regional ports.

“Our role is to work with our customers to drive trade so that we can continue creating opportunities for our regions,” Mr Wilks said.

“Esperance Quality Grains has shown a proactive willingness to adapt to and trial new export methods, which is something that excites us an organisation collaborating with them.

“We have a responsibility to enable our regional industries in way that allows them to go from strength to strength.”

The mobile shiploader set-up at Berth 2 loaded over 22,000 tonnes of Egypt-bound faba beans onto the Chios Sunrise during the first operation.

The Paiwan Diamond was loaded with 33,000 tonnes of wheat, destined for an Indonesian flour mill, using the same set-up a fortnight later.

In 2025 the company utilised Qube’s Rotabox system to load 3,000 tonnes of the faba beans for export and had previously exported through the port using containers. 

Esperance Quality Grains’ Mark Wandel said the company was focused on finding the best avenue to market for growers in the region.

“Alternative pathways to market open up new opportunities and we want to continue expanding the possibilities for the growers we work with,” he said.

“To make our operations as viable as possible we are going to keep looking at ways to up our load rates because that ultimately lowers costs.

“Already we have been able apply some of the lessons we learned while loading our first vessel to improve how the second vessel was loaded.”

Esperance Quality Grain is the second Southern Ports customer to use mobile shiploader operations, but the first at the Port of Esperance.

Commodity Ag has used a mobile shiploader at the Port of Albany to export over 250,000 tonnes of wheat, barley and faba beans since mid-2024.

“More growers are looking to go direct to market and our general purpose berths offer the flexibility to facilitate alternative export methods,” Mr Wilks said.

“Our focus on facilitating trade and developing opportunities for our regions means we are always willing to work with customers looking to do the same thing.”

Southern Ports worked with four grain export customers across its three ports (CBH, Bunge, Esperance Quality Grains and Commodity Ag) to facilitate over 7.3 million tonnes of grain trade last year.