Emerald Grain chief executive officer and chairman, John Murray, has stepped down to be replaced by chief operating officer, David Johnson.
Mr Johnson, whose grain industry experience spans 25 years in Australia and overseas, officially began as Emerald Grain’s acting CEO on September 1.
He was previously Emerald’s trading and marketing general manager and had seven years as AWB pool manager.
Outgoing CEO, Mr Murray will continue his ties with Emerald Grain as a board director.
He has led Emerald for more than three years, having earlier worked for some of Australia’s largest agricultural companies, including Ridley Corporation, Elders and AusBulk.
Emerald is fully-owned by Japanese industrial giant Sumitomo Corporation.
The parent company recently completed a strategic review of its investment in Emerald Grain, opting to retain its recently-expanded ownership.
Sumitomo’s Hideki Hijiya said the corporation recognised Emerald’s infrastructure, trading and grain origination strength, along with the many future opportunities for the business, such as the growing global demand for grain, particularly in Asia.
Mr Hideki said John Murray had led the consolidation of Sumitomo’s various grain investments under the Emerald brand and strengthened the company’s presence in the marketplace.
During his time at Emerald Grain, Mr Murray oversaw the acquisition and integration of regional grain marketing companies SQP Grain and Southern Ag Grain, transitioned the company’s grain acquisition model from pool-based to cash only, and supported the introduction of leading digital grower interfaces such as Grain Mate.
He also championed the development of Iron Road’s multi-commodity export facility proposed for Cape Hardy on South Australia Eyre Peninsula.
Mr Hideki said Emerald was in a strong position as one of Australia’s largest grain marketing and supply chain businesses.
“We will continue to benefit from John’s experience as a non-executive director and we have every confidence that David will further strengthen the brand and position in the market.”
