Australia: Joe White Maltings is progressing in A$40 million upgrade

Construction work at the Joe White Maltings (JWM) Forrestfield plant (WA) is progressing in the $40 million upgrade commissioned by parent company ABB Grain Ltd., Esigrain commented on April 27.

Since preliminary earth works commenced last December, it has been full steam ahead in the expansion process with the project now beginning to take shape – quite literally.

Underground services are completed and two of the four round concrete bases for the germination vessels have been poured, at a diameter of 28 metres each. Structural steel has arrived on site with the stainless steel steep tanks under fabrication, and offsite works have begun on the stainless steel linings. Steephouse footings have also been completed, concrete has been poured for the kiln fans, and construction has begun of new water tanks.

The end result will be a duplication of the already existing steeping, germination and kilning facilities at the site. The project is due to be completed early next year, with stage one on track for its scheduled completion at the end of this year. Production is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2006.

The upgrade will lift JWM’s malting capacity to over 500,000 tonnes across its eight plants. The expansion will double the Perth plant’s capacity to 200,000 tonnes, making it one of the largest malting facilities in the world.

The malting operations of JWM is a significant operation to ABB’s core business functions and the expansion of the Forrestfield malting plant – announced at the end of November last year – was commissioned primarily to meet growing demand from Asian markets.

The expected increase in beer production in Asia (a major importer of malt) creates the opportunity to capitalise on the growth potential of the business and cement JWM’s position as a superior malt producer in Australia.

With its reputation in the Asian region as a highly reputable and respected brand JWM is now in an ideal position to take advantage of growing demand in this region as a result of the upgrade.

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