Cargill’s Canadian arm has started expansion work to boost both the storage and shipping capacity at one of its smallest elevators in Alberta.
The company announced Thursday it’s already started construction at its site at Viking, about 120 km east of Edmonton, to add 10,000 tonnes of storage capacity and boost the elevator’s rail spot to 100 cars.
The Viking facility today is Cargill’s second-smallest primary elevator in the province, at 13,640 tonnes of capacity with a 52-car spot. The upgrades are expected to be completed by February 2015.
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The elevator, on Canadian National (CN) track just west of town, now ships the “majority” of its grain to Cargill’s North Vancouver and Prince Rupert export terminals via rail, the company said in a release.
Thus, doubling the site’s rail car capacity “creates more efficiency throughout the industry.”
“We have an opportunity to manage how our grain will move and improve rail shipment efficiency,” Jeff Vassart, president of the Minneapolis agrifood company’s Winnipeg-based Canadian business, said in Thursday’s release. “With the record 70 million-tonne crop Canada saw this year, the entire industry needs to optimize our ability to perform.”
Cargill noted the Viking expansion will also create four new full-time jobs at the Viking site, ranging from sales to operations. — AGCanada.com Network
Related story:
Cargill to expand W. Sask. elevator’s rail spot, Dec. 20, 2012
