GrainsConnect Canada Puts Saskatchewan Terminal Plans on Hold
In December 2015, GrainsConnect, a joint venture formed between Japan’s Zen-Noh Grain Corp. and Australia’s GrainCorp, announced it was investing $120 million to build four grain terminals in Saskatchewan and Alberta. However, the company’s plans for a $30 million to $40 million high throughput grain terminal in Niobe, Alberta have been shelved with the possibility of the terminal not being built at all.
Although he would not elaborate on the exact reasons behind the decision, Warren Stow, president of GrainsConnect, told the Alberta Farm Express, “We are on hold at this point until we sort out some of the agreements around the terminal.”
The planned facility was supposed to be constructed on a 207 acre parcel adjacent to a Canada Malting Co. elevator which the company also owns. The planned terminal was to include ten concrete towers, a 2,700 meter loop rail track from an existing CP rail line, and have the ability to process up to 35,000 tons of grain every ten hours.
For now the company is focusing on its two Saskatchewan grain terminals including a new construction that is identical to the planned Niobe facility.
Meanwhile, despite issues with wetland regulations, Paterson Grain is moving forward on its terminal construction in Bowden, Alberta. Paterson is also constructing new grain terminals in Daysland, Alberta and North Dakota.
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