CSBP Limited is an Australian fertiliser and chemical company based in Kwinana, Western Australia. It is a subsidiary of WesCEF, which in turn is part of the industrials division of the Wesfarmers conglomerate.
CSBP Limited is an Australian fertiliser and chemical company based in Kwinana, Western Australia. It is a subsidiary of WesCEF, which in turn is part of the industrials division of the Wesfarmers conglomerate.
CSBP produces a number of products for the agricultural, mining, and industrial sectors, including fertilisers, industrial chemicals, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and wood-plastic composites. [1] It has two subsidiaries – Australian Vinyls (based in Laverton, Victoria) and ModWood Technologies (based in Campbellfield, Victoria). CSBP additionally holds joint ownership of Queensland Nitrate Project (QNP), a joint venture with Dyno Nobel. [2]
CSBP has its head office in Kwinana. It has a soil and plant laboratory in Bibra Lake and regional fertiliser distribution centres in Albany, Bunbury, Esperance and Geraldton. There are also regional fertiliser depots in Corrigin, Dalwallinu, Goomalling, Merredin, Tambellup, and Wagin. [3]
CSBP has its origins in Cuming Smith & Co., which in 1910 began making fertilisers at Bassendean, Western Australia, under the "Florida" brand name. It was the first company in Australia to manufacture superphosphate. [2]
In 1927, Cuming Smith and two other firms – Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company and Westralian Farmers Superphosphates – established a new joint venture, Cuming Smith Mount Lyell Farmers Fertiliser Limited (known as CSML). Each company held a one-third share. The establishment of CSML came at a time when the agricultural sector in Western Australia was rapidly expanding. With a capacity output of 240,000 tonnes per year, the company produced almost all of the superphosphate used in WA – a total of 1,925,000 tonnes in its first 20 years of operation. [2]
CSML commissioned new plants in Bunbury and Geraldton in 1930, in order to reduce the distribution distance for their products. A plant in Albany was commissioned in 1954, and at the same time CSML and Cresco Fertilisers (a South Australian firm) formed a new joint venture, the Albany Superphosphate Company. Albany Superphosphate operated both in Albany and in Esperance, where a plant was established in 1962. [2]
In 1963, Boral purchased Mount Lyell's share in CSML. They onsold their share to BP the following year, and CSML was consequently renamed Cuming Smith British Petroleum and Farmers Limited (CSBP). [2]
CSBP commissioned superphosphate and sulphuric acid plants in Kwinana in 1967. The Kwinana Nitrogen Company was established the following year, as a joint venture between CSBP (20 percent) and BP (80 percent). In 1970, CSBP also took over its main rival, Cresco Fertilisers. As a result of these changes, the company's plants in Bassendean and North Fremantle ceased operations in 1971. Three additional plants in Kwinana were commissioned in the 1970s. [2]
In October 1977, Westralian Farmers (now Wesfarmers) launched a takeover bid for CSBP, valuing the company at $60 million – three times what Westralian Farmers itself was valued at. Driven by John Bennison, the deal did not go through until September 1979, after two years of protracted negotiations. At the time, it was the largest corporate takeover in Australian history. [4] [5]
During the 1980s, CSBP began to increase its emphasis on industrial chemicals. In 1986, Wesfarmers acquired BP's one-third shared in CSBP, becoming the sole owner. The following year, they also bought out BP's share in the Kwinana Nitrogen Company. In 1988, CSBP formed Australian Gold Reagents Limited (AGR) as a joint venture with Coogee Chemicals and the Australian Industry Development Corporation (AIDC). AIDC withdrew in 1997, leaving CSBP with a 75 percent share. CSBP began trading as Wesfarmers CSBP in 1995, but in 2003 became just CSBP Limited. [2]
The City of Kwinana is a local government area of Western Australia. It covers an area of approximately 118 square kilometres in metropolitan Perth, and lies about 38 km south of Perth central business district, via the Kwinana Freeway. Kwinana maintains 287 km of roads and had a population of almost 39,000 as at the 2016 Census.
Arc Infrastructure is a transport infrastructure owner and access provider in Western Australia with a long-term lease on the network from the Government of Western Australia. It operates approximately 5,500 km of standard, narrow and dual gauge rail infrastructure in the southern half of the state.
Australian Railroad Group (ARG) was an Australian rail freight operator. It began operations in Western Australia on 17 December 2000 following its purchase of the Westrail freight business. It was purchased by QR National in June 2006. The main commodities hauled by ARG included grain, mineral sands, alumina, bauxite, coal, woodchips, quartz, nickel and iron ore around Western Australia. In June 2011, it ceased trading as a separate brand, and became part of QR National.
Wesfarmers Limited is an Australian conglomerate, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It has interests predominantly in Australia and New Zealand, operating in retail, chemical, fertiliser, industrial and safety products. With revenue of A$30.8 billion in the 2020 financial year, it is one of Australia's largest companies by revenue. Wesfarmers is also one of the largest private employers in Australia, with approximately 107,000 employees.
Aerial topdressing is the aerial application of fertilisers over farmland using agricultural aircraft. It was developed in New Zealand in the 1940s and rapidly adopted elsewhere in the 1950s.
Kwinana Beach is an outer southwestern suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Kwinana. It is one of the traditional industrial suburbs in the Perth metropolitan region.
Leda is a southern suburb of Perth, Western Australia within the City of Kwinana. Leda is one of the five main suburbs of Kwinana.
Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited, also known as IFFCO, is a multi-state cooperative society engaged in the manufacture and marketing of fertiliser. IFFCO is headquartered in New Delhi, India. Started in 1967 with 57 member cooperatives, it is today the biggest co-operative in the world by turnover on GDP per capita, with around 35,000 member cooperatives reaching over 50 million Indian farmers.
Wellesley is a locality in the Bunbury region of Western Australia, about 10 km north-east of Australind. Its local government area is the Shire of Harvey. It is bordered on the south and east by the Brunswick River and the Wellesley River. The main feature of the locality is the Kemerton Industrial Park.
Michael Alfred Chaney is an Australian businessman and former chancellor of the University of Western Australia.
Iluka Resources is an Australian-based resources company, specialising in mineral sands exploration, project development, operations and marketing. Iluka is the largest producer of zircon and titanium dioxide–derived rutile and synthetic rutile globally. Iluka mines heavy mineral sands and separates the concentrate into its individual mineral constituents rutile, ilmenite, and zircon. Some of the ilmenite is then processed into synthetic rutile.
The petroleum industry in Western Australia is the largest contributor to the country's petroleum exports. Western Australia's North West Shelf (NWS) is the primary location from which production originates. Oil exports are shipped from Port Hedland.
Murugappa Group is an Indian conglomerate founded in 1900 by A.M.Murugappa Chettiar. It is India's one of the most valuable company With an estimated net worth of $7.3 billion according to Forbes as of 2023. The Group has 28 businesses including nine companies listed on the NSE and the BSE. Headquartered in Chennai, the major companies of the Group include Carborundum Universal Ltd., Cholamandalam Financial Holdings Ltd., Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company Ltd., Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Ltd., Coromandel International Ltd., Coromandel Engineering Company Ltd., EID Parry (India) Ltd., Parry Agro Industries Ltd., Shanthi Gears Ltd., Tube Investments of India Limited., Net Access India Ltd and Wendt (India) Ltd.
CBH grain receival points are grain silos spread around Western Australia, primarily in the wheatbelt region. Historically they have been linked with the wheatbelt railway lines, and the transport of grain to ports for export.
The Greenbushes lithium mine is an open-pit mining operation located south of the town of Greenbushes, Western Australia. It is the world's largest hard-rock lithium mine, producing approximately 1.95 million tonnes of lithium spodumene annually. The mine is 250 kilometres south of Perth and 90 kilometres southeast of the Port of Bunbury.
Kleenheat is an Australian gas producer, retailer and distributor based in Perth, Western Australia.
John Bennison AM OBE was an Australian businessman known for his long involvement with Wesfarmers. He began work at the company in 1954, and as managing director from 1974 to 1984 oversaw its transition from a farmers' cooperative to a publicly listed industrial conglomerate.
Charles Walter Harper was an Australian agriculturalist who was prominent in the cooperative movement in Western Australia. He was one of the founders of Wesfarmers, serving as its chairman from 1921 to 1953, and also helped establish what is now CBH Group.
Mark Allison is an Australian agricultural industry manager. He is a chief executive officer and managing director of Elders Limited and holds several other positions at the industry organizations.
Sir Eric Fleming Smart OBE was a Western Australian wheat-farmer, grazier, and local government councillor. His innovation achieved record grain and wool yields; he also pioneered modern agricultural methods for fertilisation and pest control. Smart was knighted in 1966 for outstanding service to agriculture.