August 1, 2016

Gina Rinehart, chairman and director of Hancock Prospecting, has acquired infrastructure that will provide integrated supply routes for her growing cattle portfolio.

Less than a week after Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting acquired the Inverway and Riveren cattle stations totaling 550,000 hectares with a combined herd of 40,000 head of cattle in Australia’s Northern Territory from Indonesia’s Japfa Santori, the group has acquired Phoenix Park – a registered live cattle export yard and depot licensed for 20,000 head, that also includes a large-scale fodder growing operation.

“Phoenix Park builds on our previous investment in the N.T., including the recent acquisitions of Riveren and Inverway cattle stations,” the company said in a statement. “The new depot covers over 3,443 hectares of freehold land.”

Located only 340 km from the live export port of Darwin, the purchase of Phoenix Park, which Hancock Prospecting described as a “large-scale export pre-feeding depot,” is indicative of Rinehart’s intention of building an integrated supply chain.

The property, which was scheduled to go to auction in June, but was pulled when a last minute offer was made, will “fit well with a large scale pastoral business,” selling agent Alison Ross told the Australia Bulletin.

“Obviously Phoenix Park has a range of attributes, the main thing being the cattle yards, the farming land, as well as the access and location only a few kilometres out of Katherine,” Ms. Ross told ABC.

Over the past three years, Australia has exported record volumes of beef to China, and last year, secured a deal to sell live cattle onto the Chinese market. Furthermore, Australia’s Ministry of Agriculture released 250,000 permits for live cattle exports to Indonesia in May of this year. These developments along with the finalization of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (CHAFTA) have created a promising landscape for Australia’s mining magnates, such as Hancock’s Chairman Gina Rinehart and others, to diversify into agriculture as a means to capitalize on Asia’s rapidly growing food market and Australia’s so-called “dining boom.”

Through these acquisitions it is plain that Hancock is positioning itself to be a leading supplier to these emerging markets.

“This is a strategic acquisition for HPPL…” said Rinehart, adding, “…and will give HPPL the ability to supply cattle throughout the year including during the wet season, so we hope to be reliable suppliers to our markets.”

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Lynda Kiernan