29/06/2007
A major South Australian barley company has signed a five-year billion dollar deal to supply one of the world's largest food companies.
ABB Grain Limited will ship around two million tonnes of feed barley each year to the United Feed Company in Saudi Arabia.
The company has supplied United Feed for the past eight years under its single desk monopoly and concerned it could lose the trade under deregulation, which will open up the South Australia barley market from Sunday.
ABB chairman Perry Gunner says it is a big win.
"Well Saudi Arabia represents half of the world's traded feed barley and United Feed trades 40 per cent of that grain into Saudi Arabia so in fact they represent 20 per cent of the world's traded barley and we've been very fortunate to secure this long term agreement ahead of deregulation."
