![GrainCorp managing director Robert Spurway is bullish about the future of oilseed crushing in Australia. Photo supplied. GrainCorp managing director Robert Spurway is bullish about the future of oilseed crushing in Australia. Photo supplied.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/5Q2j7ezUfQBfUJsaqK3gfB/5726db68-1cc3-44a5-b10b-fbc818d7049e.jpg/r0_0_2720_1674_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
GrainCorp executives are targeting domestic oilseed crushing as a key growth opportunity.
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Speaking at the company's half year results briefing on Wednesday GrainCorp's managing director Robert Spurway said the company was looking to bolster its oilseed crushing capacity, which came in at 282,000 tonnes for the first half, the largest half year result on record for the company.
Mr Spurway said the company was launching a feasibility study into constructing a greenfield oilseed crush facility, with both the west and east coast being considered.
Initial estimates were that it would require capital expenditure of at least $500 million to construct a crush plant of 750,000 to a million tonnes of annual capacity.
Mr Spurway said the big growth forecasts in renewable fuels were central to GrainCorp's bullish approach to crushing.
"APAC (Asia Pacific) demand for renewable fuel is set to grow 19pc annually on a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) basis," he said.
Both Western Australia, the nation's largest canola producing state, and the east coast, where GrainCorp has its bulk handling footprint, are in the mix to host the proposed plant.
Internationally there is a similar rush to crushing infrastructure.
Canada, the world's largest canola exporter, has constructed significant crush capacity in recent years as crushers look to take advantage of demand for oil.
Meanwhile, Graincorp delivered a half year profit in line with last week's profit guidance, with net profit after tax of $50 million, a quarter of last year's record $200 million.
The result, however, was good enough to see GrainCorp pay an additional dividend of 10 cents a share, taking total share dividends to 24 cents a share.
Markets also reacted favourably to the news, with a hefty 6 per cent lift in share prices to $8.58 by Thursday lunchtime.
In terms of the overall performance of each business segment Mr Spurway said the agribusiness unit, which houses the company's bulk handling business, was back in terms of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).
"There were lower volumes on the east coast due to a tough season in northern NSW and southern Queensland."
"This was offset by good harvests in southern NSW and Victoria but the lack of grain in the north had an influence on export volumes."
GrainCorp's grain trading business was also down in terms of earnings due to lower production in WA and increased global production which brought world grain values down.
The nutrition and energy nutrition sector, including crushing, was also down, with EBITDA of $76 million compared to $131 million for the previous corresponding period.
In spite of the record crush earnings came down on the back of lower margins.
Mr Spurway also highlighted gains within the environment, sustainability and governance (ESG) space.
"We have had our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) ratified, which we believe we are one of the first to put in place while we are also pleased to note that our gender pay gap of 0.3pc is the lowest of ASX-200 companies."