One of Australia’s largest agricultural businesses has announced plans to expand its local manufacturing footprint to better serve Australian farmers and increase supply chain security.
Nutrien Ag Solutions has started work to establish a new plant nutrition, crop chemical and animal health manufacturing facility in Laverton, Victoria.
The facility will have the capacity to produce critical farming inputs for growers on the east coast of Australia.
Nutrien Ag Solutions managing director Kelly Freeman said with increasingly volatile global supply chains, it made sense to expand the company’s onshore manufacturing capability and inject more reliability in the local supply chain.
“As a company that imports products that are fundamental to growing food in Australia, we are always in the middle of someone else’s supply chain,” Mr Freeman says.
“In the past few years, geopolitical tensions, cost of energy and fuel, shifting global economies, longer shipping lead times, congestion at ports, extreme weather events and labour shortages have all contributed to an increasingly unpredictable supply chain.
“Having the ability to manufacture significant volumes on both sides of the country is vital for us.
“That’s why we’ve made the decision to invest in more manufacturing capacity on the east coast of Australia to give even more confidence to our farmers that they will have reliable access to all the key inputs they need to make the most of varying seasons and markets.”
Nutrien Ag Solutions national manufacturing manager Cherine Kerbaj said the new Laverton site will triple Nutrien’s domestic manufacturing capacity.
She says the business is expanding its manufacturing capacity to support the continued growth of the business and give it a better balance between east and west coast production assets.
“Transporting goods from our plant in Western Australia to east coast customers can be costly and complicated, so it makes sense to boost our capacity on the east coast as well,” Ms Kerbaj said.
Nutrien Ag Solutions’ current manufacturing portfolio includes a facility in Kwinana, Western Australia and a facility in Dandenong, Victoria. The new facility will be located at Laverton, Victoria.
“This is a great news story for farmers focused on more reliability, more flexibility and increased production of much needed agri-chemicals right here in Australia,” Ms Kerbaj said.
“The site will produce plant nutrition products and adjuvants, alongside crop chemical and animal health products.
“Given we work in a rain-dependent industry, having more capacity on home soil also allows us to be flexible with our volumes in a far shorter timeframe so we can successfully meet the seasons’ needs.”
The fit out of the site is underway with the first line of products expected to commence at Laverton in 2025.
