GrainsConnect picks second Alberta terminal site

The joint venture between Australia’s GrainCorp and Japan’s Zen-Noh Grain is taking its Prairie grain handling model to southern Alberta.

GrainsConnect Canada announced plans Thursday to build a fourth Prairie high-throughput grain terminal on Canadian National (CN) Railway track at Huxley, Alta., about 75 km southeast of Red Deer.

The company — which expects to open its first terminal this fall at Maymont, Sask., about 45 km southeast of North Battleford — said the Huxley operation will include 35,000 tonnes of storage capacity and a rail car loop to load 134 cars in “under 14” hours.

Construction, pending “necessary approvals,” is expected to start “mid-year” for completion in 2019, the company said.

“We will have two sites in Saskatchewan and two in Alberta, offering choice and access to one of the most efficient supply chains to the West Coast,” GrainsConnect president Warren Stow said in a release.

“There has been strong grower interest in this area for more choice and we are excited to deliver a state of the site facility to the region.”

The nearest licensed primary grain elevator is Viterra’s 42,150-tonne capacity terminal on CN track at Trochu, about 12 km south of Huxley.

Other nearby elevators outside Red Deer include Louis Dreyfus’ site at Joffre and Richardson Pioneer’s at Olds, both also about 75 km away from Huxley.

GrainsConnect said its Huxley site will be the first in the region with a 134-car loop, “increasing efficiency and reliability to growers in the area.”

GrainsConnect’s other terminal sites are near Wilkie, Sask., about 55 km southwest of North Battleford, to open in mid-2018, and near Vegreville, Alta., to open in late 2018. — AGCanada.com Network