AusBulk Information

AusBulk is the premier grain storage and handling company in South Australia with 113 sites around the state. About 90% of the grain is received at inland sites and subsequently transported to ports for export. A little over half these country silos are on rail with a transport task of about four million tonnes in an average year. AusBulk's largest sites are equipped with the traditional $3 to $4 million per site over rail storage bins for high-speed loading. The majority of country sites however have loading capacities of between 150-200 tph. In the past this deficiency in loading rates was partially mitigated by splitting trains and loading wagons at a number of sites simultaneously and then reassembling the consist, as it was uneconomic to build traditional rapid rail loaders at all rail-based sites. AusBulk recognised that a rapid rail loading device that could be shared between sites could have a marked impact on freight rates as rail is a highly capital intensive business, with costs reflecting the utilization of rolling stock. Improving the efficiency of the rolling stock by improving loading speeds and hence loading times therefore could be expected to deliver lower freight charges. AusBulk's AusRailLoader extracts the latent value of the company's significant historical investment in concrete vertical silos at its many country sites. By simply modifying silos by inserting a valve at the base grain can be gravity fed onto the conveyor belt of the AusRailLoader, achieving loading rates of 1000 t/h.