THE first grain shipment out of the Port of Portland in more than two years has left for Pakistan.
AWB Limited has shipped 26,250 tonnes of canola to a group of eight Pakistani customers on the MV Velebit, which finished loading at the GrainCorp terminal at Portland on the weekend.
Small Victorian grain crops, due to the drought, have halted exports through the Portland terminal in recent years.
"The much better season in Victoria last year has seen a resurgence in export availability after the previous two drought seasons left much of Victoria's export infrastructure with little grain to handle," said AWB commodities general manager Mitch Morison.
"We've drawn canola from across the Wimmera and Western District, with over half of that arriving by rail into Portland."
GrainCorp corporate affairs spokesman David Ginns said no grain had been exported through the Portland terminal during the past two years.
Mr Ginns said there was a possible cargo of grain to be loaded at Portland in July, but no booking had been made.
