Our projects – Wolseley upgrade

We are making a $50 million investment in our Wolseley site aimed at improving safety, expanding the site and creating efficiencies and value for our farmer and buyer customers and the local community.

This project is our single largest investment in our South Australian upcountry network and aims to meet the evolving needs of farmers now and into the future.

It will improve the farmer delivery experience with additional bunker storage, state of the art classification centres and new and extended weighbridges, marshalling areas and roadways.

It will also transition the site to fast rail loading which will provide reduced freight costs that we pass back to farmers and help move more tonnes to our Adelaide ports for export in the first half of the year, assisting farmers to achieve a premium for their grain. This part of the project is being delivered in conjunction with rail freight operator Aurizon.

Our Wolseley site is a key asset in the Bunge network. Being situated on the Melbourne to Adelaide freight rail line, it plays a significant role in supporting local grain farmers in the south east region of South Australia, and western Victoria, and connecting them with domestic and international consumers.

This investment is in addition to the $65 million we currently invest into our sites each year where it provides the greatest value to our customers through creating efficiencies, improving reliability and ensuring the long-term sustainability of our network.

The project

Stage 1: improving the safety and efficiency of the delivery process for farmers and carriers

• larger marshalling area, to improve access to the site during peak harvest periods and prevent trucks queueing on the external road
• two automatic weighbridges, with one new and one existing upgraded to 50 metres to meet increased truck sizes
• two state of the art classification centres which will improve turnaround times onsite
• automated samplers which provide a more accurate sample of farmers’ grain
• increasing storage capacity to 400,000 tonnes
• upgrade to existing roadways and new roads to make it safer and easier for everyone to move around site
• upgrade of the existing onsite stormwater system to limit run off into the council system

Stage 2: bringing fast rail loading to the site to be able to move more grain to port to meet demand

• two rail bins to allow us to fill a 50 wagon train in under two hours, in comparison to the eight hours it currently takes at Wolseley
• an inload shed for trucks to fill the bins to allow all weather loading and prevent delays when moving grain to port
• construction of a rail track (managed by Aurizon), allowing trains to access the bunker site for continuous, effective loading

Proposed design

The benefits

This project is an important step in our focus of making the South Australian supply chain more efficient to compete with interstate and international markets. It’s one of the many long-term investments we’re making aimed at strengthening our network to the benefit of farmers, buyers, the community and industry.

Local community

• generation of jobs during construction and operations
• increased expenditure in the region during the construction period
• improved road safety outside the site
• reduction of trucks moving grain from the bunker to town site
• decreased train loading times
• less train movements within Wolseley town centre (and over West Terrace)
• reduction in C02-e emissions due to greater volumes moved on rail
• improved stormwater management
• safer road and rail active crossing over Ridgway Road

Farmers

• increasing flexibility and efficiency of grain movements from upcountry to deep water ports, particularly by using fast rail movements, helps move maximum tonnes of farmers’ grain to market during the first half of the year assisting farmers to achieve a premium for their grain
• reduction in freight costs due to efficiencies gained with increased rail which we will pass back to farmers
• increased segregations for local farmers
• improved onsite experience will allow farmers to deliver their grain more efficiently, meaning they can continue harvesting when their crop is ready and reduce risk of weather events impacting quality which can negatively impact prices

2026 (stage 2)

2027 and 2028 (stage 2)