Agribusiness

Troubled Perth company Quintis plans to take legal action against its founder and former managing director over claims he has failed to meet repayment obligations on an $11 million loan.

Olive oil, chocolate, avocados, marron and cider are among a number of Western Australian products that are ideal for local industry to target as premium markets, according to a report commissioned by the Department of Agriculture and food released Thursday night.

Grain handling cooperative CBH Group’s partially owned subsidiary, Interflour, has officially opened a new malt production facility in Vietnam, which it said would give Western Australian farmers better access to the Asian nation’s beer market.

Aquacuture firm Atlas Pearls and Perfumes has locked in two debt facility agreements for a total of $3 million, one of which is with its director, Tim Martin.

Embattled sandalwood producer Quintis has once again requested its share trade suspension be extended while it continues to negotiate transactions it says are critical to its solvency.

Perth's maverick "Spud King" Tony Galati has been fined $40,000 for contempt of court after growing more potatoes than he was allowed.

Quintis has suffered its fourth credit ratings downgrade within a month, after the troubled Indian sandalwood producer on Tuesday revealed more operational and financial issues.

Interflour Group, which is half-owned by CBH Group, has today shipped the first load of wheat from Kwinana to its new Mabuhay mill in the Philippines.

Sandalwood producer Quintis has revealed more operational and financial pain, with the embattled Perth company suspending plantation sales, lowering forecast product sales and admitting a $27 million investment would not proceed.

Ian Trahar has taken a larger stake in his listed agribusiness Seafarms Group while the Perth business taps investors for $10 million.

An upgrade to a meat processing plant at Katanning, a chicken feed mill in Muchea, a new piggery at Moora and a live lobster holding facility in Welshpool are the latest in a string of investments that will boost the agribusiness sector in Western Australia.

Live cattle exporter Wellard has announced the sale of one of its mid-sized ships to Israeli company Dabbah Slaughterhouse for $US26 million ($A35 million).

Global ratings agency S&P has cut its credit rating for Quintis for the second time this month and kept the troubled Indian sandalwood producer on credit watch with negative implications, suggesting another downgrade is possible.

Poultry giant Ingham’s will continue to be Woolworths' main chicken meat supplier after the pair extended their national agreement.

Troubled sandalwood producer Quintis has extended its ASX suspension by a week to review its operations and update its earnings guidance.

Fremantle-based livestock exporter Wellard has appointed Chinese businessman Kanda Lu as an executive director in an effort to boost the company's expansion into China's beef cattle market. 

Western Australian farmers are among the most optimistic in the nation, according to the annual Commonwealth Bank of Australia Agi Insights report to be released today, with 39 per cent likely to be investing in their businesses in the year ahead.

Shares in sandalwood company Quintis have gone into a trading halt, after horrific losses last week including a nearly 36 per cent fall on Friday.

SPECIAL REPORT: Paul Holmes a Court plans for Margaret River’s oldest winery may not come to fruition in his lifetime.

SPECIAL REPORT: Fogarty Wine Group has built its brand over two decades to top the list of WA’s major producers.

Poultry producer Ingham’s Chicken will invest more than $70 million to build a new feed mill near Muchea as part of a plan to grow production volumes in Western Australia.

SPECIAL REPORT: After a gruelling decade, even a desultory 2016-17 summer could not dampen the growing enthusiasm among WA winemakers.

Good summer crop conditions and record livestock and wool prices have helped agribusiness Elders lift its first-half profit by 56 per cent and flag the resumption of dividend payments this year.

Ratings agencies Moody’s and S&P have downgraded the debt of agribusiness Qunitis, while private equity fund Black Rock revealed it had taken a 5.1 per cent stake in the company.

Shares in sandalwood supplier Quintis were down 44 per cent today after the company admitted it had lost a contract supplying Nestle five months ago, the second issue relating to a contract this year.

PHOTO ESSAY: Workers from Ocean Grown Abalone will install 5,000 concrete habitats, or Abitats, at Augusta during the next 18 months as part of anexpansion of the company’s aquaculture business.

The aquaculture and fisheries industries are both attracting investor interest as businesses float significant growth plans.

Sandalwood producer Quintis has negotiated a second deferral of an option agreement that could see it having to pay nearly $34 million to buy back 400 hectares of plantations, as the company confirmed it was in advanced negotiations with a possible replacement for a key Chinese customer.

Former Australian Wheat Board chairman Trevor Flugge has been fined $50,000 and barred from managing corporations for five years, after he was convicted in December of breaching his duties as a director while the company was making questionable payments to the government of Iraq.

Loss-making livestock exporter Wellard is undertaking a share placement and entitlement offer as part of a $52 million capital raising it hopes will allow it to exploit a predicted improvement in trading conditions.

CBH Group chief executive Andrew Crane is stepping down from the role after eight years at the helm of Australia's largest grain exporter, with the group to immediately begin a search for his successor.

The competition watchdog is concerned that the proposed takeover of Bibra Lake-based wheat and barley seed breeder InterGrain by Australian Grain Technologies could substantially lessen competition in the barley seeds sector.