Cargill has started construction work to more than double the storage at its newly-acquired grain handling facility at Camrose in central Alberta.
The Camrose East elevator is a former Agricore United facility sold to Cargill this summer as part of a deal with Saskatchewan Wheat Pool to satisfy antitrust watchdogs before SaskPool and AU merged as Viterra.
The expansion would boost its capacity to 37,788 tonnes, while adding more car spotting and cleaning capacity, Cargill said in its announcement Monday. The site’s new dual load-out system would allow for loading of 100 rail cars.
Cargill said the Camrose site will be “fully operational” during construction, which is scheduled to wrap up in the fall of 2008. The site, just south of Highway 13 on Highway 56, also houses a crop inputs centre.
The investment is expected to send a “strong message” to local farmers that Cargill is “here to stay for the long term,” said the company’s central Alberta farm service group manager Al Facchinutti in a release.
