Nutrien Ag Solutions has announced a broader plan to ensure farmers in Western Australia (WA) receive their fertilizer for the season ahead following an industrial fire at Kwinana Bulk Jetty on Feb. 9, including a new temporary arrangement with CSBP Fertilisers.
Nutrien Ag Solutions Region Director West Andrew Duperouzel said in a Feb. 8 media statement that the incident resulted in significant infrastructure damage that has created a number of challenges for port users. The fire also engulfed part of a warehouse storing bulk fertilizers and chemicals operated by Nutrien in Kwinana (GM Feb. 16, p. 33)
“The issues caused by the fire are not related to Nutrien’s supply and availability of product, rather the availability of port infrastructure at Kwinana to safely and efficiently offload and dispatch,” Duperouzel said. “The strength of Nutrien’s global supply chain means we have product in our storage and in transit on ships, so our priority is finding alternative ways to get this product to our customers in a timely manner.”
Nutrien Ag is also progressing discussions with relevant government stakeholders as its looks to increase tonnage at its other regional WA sites and confirm additional offsite storage and blending facilities.
The company said it has also reached a temporary arrangement with CSBP to address near-term offload, storage, and distribution needs. CSBP will be receiving and dispatching Nutrien’s imported product for two vessels that had been at Kwinana ready for discharge before the fire.