Viterra to build new elevator near Winnipeg

Grain handler Viterra is set to replace a relatively small concrete elevator just northwest of Winnipeg with a new higher-throughput terminal.

Glencore Agriculture’s Prairie grain arm said Thursday it will build a new high-throughput in the municipality of Rosser, Man., near the northwest corner of Winnipeg’s Perimeter Highway.

The new site, connecting to Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) track, will have storage capacity for 34,000 tonnes of grain and will have a loop track system to load up to 134 rail cars, the company said.

Work on the new facility will start “immediately” and is expected to be complete in autumn next year, Viterra said.

The current Rosser elevator was built in the late 1980s by Manitoba Pool Elevators, whose assets were part of the merger creating Viterra in 2007. The Canadian Grain Commission puts the elevator’s capacity today at 6,760 tonnes.

Regina-based Viterra didn’t say in Thursday’s release what will happen to the current Rosser elevator and a company representative wasn’t immediately available for comment.

“By revitalizing our presence in this area through a modern state-of-the-art facility, we will provide customers with convenient access to the superior service, marketing opportunities and advice that makes us an industry leader,” Kyle Jeworski, Viterra’s CEO for North America, said in the company’s release.

“We commend Viterra for the continuous and substantial investments it has been making to enhance its asset network, including its new elevator at Rosser,” Joan Hardy, CP’s vice-president of sales and marketing for grain and fertilizers, said in the same release. — Glacier FarmMedia Network