The establishment of the Unigrain Group of Companies dates back to 1987. Unigrain originally bought grain-sorghum from producers and delivered it directly to processing plants. Unigrain now offers a wide range of services. The need to provide a comprehensive supply chain service to clients gave rise in 1991 to the establishment of Grain Carriers, a road transport company. Unigrain Commodities was established in 2001 to service the winter grain market. Grain Logistics was a further extension of the group’s strategy to penetrate the supply chain. Grain Logistics supply services to grain processors to facilitate the receiving, handling and management of grain on their own premises. As a true South African enterprise, the Unigrain group has serviced the local agricultural services sector with distinction. As a pioneer, Unigrain was the first company to do grain-sorghum transactions in a deregulated market, as well as the first farm-to-mill delivery white and yellow maize transactions in the country. Furthermore, Unigrain was also the first to facilitate a pre-seasonal fixed and minimum price contract between producers and processors. Grain Carriers was the first transporter of grain directly from the producer to the processors.
To unlock the benefits of storage facilities, Unigrain offers the client the opportunity to store a commodity on site. Unigrain Trading can offer a marketing plan to maximise the benefits of on-site stored commodities.
Unigrain offers a comprehensive hedging service on the JSE (Safex). Producers have access to all commodity futures and options as part of their hedging strategies. A comprehensive broking service is rendered through an expert team of traders. Hedging strategies are continuously formulated and managed in conjunction with clients.
Grain Carriers was established in 1991 by the current directors – SH de Lange & TM Terblanche. We are currently the largest transporter of grain in South Africa and our fleet consists of 85 of our own trucks and 250 sub-contractors. Over 3.5 million tons of grain and products are being transported every year.
ogistics forms an important part of the grain and oilseed supply chain management services rendered by Unigrain. A committed logistical team is dedicated to a specific processor for the full term of the contract. The Grain Logistics personnel satisfy all the operational and safety requirements as specified by the processor.