Ravensdown’s exit of the Australian fertilizer market is complete after a May 15 announcement that its operation in Queensland will cease trading. The move comes five months after the completion of the sale of Ravensdown’s operations in Western Australia and South Australia and within a financial year that has seen the farmer-owned co-operative meeting its turnaround expectations in New Zealand.
“We told shareholders at the last AGM that it was a make or break year for the Queensland business and the hard reality is that it’s the latter,” said Greg Campbell, Ravensdown CEO. “So we need to take action now and put the Australian experience behind us.”
“When the next financial year starts from June 1 2014, there will be no Australian fertilizer trading losses affecting our New Zealand result.”
Ravensdown Fertiliser Australia was set up in 2009 after cane growers invited the co-operative to start supplying soil nutrients. The original business plan based its viability on a 100,000 mt a year target. But cyclones, flooding and depressed world prices for sugar meant fertilizer tonnages reached only 70,000 mt last year.
“Here in New Zealand, we’re investing in advanced nutrient management training, in infrastructure such as new loaders in stores and in technology such as Smart Maps which provides a visual audit trail for a farm’s nutrient status. We’re seeing strong demand from a buoyant New Zealand sector and have good availability of products like superphosphate, DAP and urea in our stores.”