A SUNRAYSIA transport business is diversifying into grain receival and packing for export.
Wakefield Transport group manager Ken Wakefield said the company was waiting on council approval for a proposal to open a grain-packing facility at its existing Merbein site.
Mr Wakefield said the facility would use four 9m-high 140-tonne silos to "facilitate the efficient loading" of wheat and barley by a covered conveyor system, which would carry the grain into containers suitable for sea freight.
"We do a lot of other exports out of here," he said. "I've seen a shift towards containerised grain, and deregulation has made it a bit easier for us.
"There are premiums to be made by shipping parcels instead of shipping in bulk where everyone who gets to handle it takes a little bit (of money) here and there.
"If we can use exporters to sell the commodity door-to-door, such as barley to a brewery in Vietnam, it should get a better price.
"Growers need every buck they can get."
Mr Wakefield said the company was not interested in buying grain or acting as a broker.
"We just want to do the transport for the brokers and exporters," he said.
"The market will dictate volumes but we're hoping to do 3000 containers in the first year."
Mr Wakefield said the company applied for a planning permit in November and had hoped to start receivals on February 1.
But objections from nearby residents means the application must now go to a meeting of the Mildura Rural City Council for a decision.
He said the company had done everything possible to minimise extra dust and noise.
The Merbein depot already has large warehouses providing 25,000 square metres of dry storage and 2450 sq m of coolroom storage.
