Vegreville’s giant pysanka is a well known landmark in eastern Alberta. (Vegreville.com)

Viterra plans new eastern Alberta elevator

Reading Time: < 1 minute Glencore’s Prairie grain handling arm Viterra plans to stake a new claim in the northeastern Alberta market with a new high-throughput elevator at Vegreville. The company announced Monday it has picked up the necessary regulatory approvals and expects to start construction along Canadian National Railway (CN) track this spring. The elevator is expected to have […] Read more

Rail cars arrive at Glencore’s Puerto Prodeco coal depository in Colombia. (Glencore.com)

Glencore sees renewables not cost competitive until mid-century

Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters — Renewable energy will not be cost competitive with fossil fuels until 2050, Glencore said on Tuesday, much later than energy organizations forecast and supporting the mining and trading giant’s case for continued investment in coal. Glencore, whose non-mining holdings include Canadian grain handler Viterra, has said coal is still an investment […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Viterra plans new elevator in eastern Saskatchewan

Reading Time: < 1 minute Glencore’s Prairie grain handling arm Viterra plans to boost its throughput capacity in east-central Saskatchewan with a new elevator at Wadena. Wadena, served by both Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railways (CN, CP), already has a smaller Viterra elevator on each line. The two former Saskatchewan Wheat Pool elevators have capacity for 5,020 and 4,000 […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Saskatchewan farmers to launch ag retail chain

Reading Time: 2 minutes A Saskatchewan family farm and seed retailing operation is set to become the home base for a new chain of crop input and seed retail stores. Brad Hanmer, who farms and operates Hanmer Seeds at Govan, Sask., about 100 km north of Regina, on Wednesday announced the launch of SynergyAG, which plans to open four […] Read more


(File photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Canadian canola exporters book sales to China

Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian exporters are making small sales of canola to China under Beijing’s stricter terms, an industry group and three sources said, possibly undermining Ottawa’s hardline negotiating stance with the world’s top market for the oilseed. The dispute over the new shipping standard, which industry groups in the world’s biggest canola exporter […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Viterra books lower first-half revenues for Glencore

Reading Time: 2 minutes “Average” crops and lower prices on the Prairies in the first half of 2016 led to results “substantially below” those in the year-earlier period for Viterra’s Canadian operations. Viterra’s owner, Swiss commodity mining/marketing firm Glencore, on Wednesday reported a nine per cent drop in revenues across its global agricultural products business, from $10.74 billion in […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

B.C. pension funds to get piece of Glencore ag unit

Reading Time: 2 minutes The investment firm for British Columbia’s public-sector pension funds is set to buy just under 10 per cent of the agricultural arm of commodities firm Glencore. Swiss-based Glencore announced Thursday it has a “definitive” deal to sell 9.99 per cent of its “Glencore Agri” business for US$624.9 million cash to the B.C. Investment Management Corp. […] Read more



Curt Vossen. (Dave Bedard photo)

China may pay more for canola if standard changes

Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters –– Richardson International, one of Canada’s two largest grain handlers, may raise the price of canola shipments to China to reflect Beijing’s costly higher standard, its CEO said Thursday. The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa said in March that China had delayed to Sept. 1 its new standard for no more than one per […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Glencore sells 40 per cent of agribusiness to CPP

Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters –– Commodity miner and trader Glencore has agreed to sell 40 per cent of its agricultural unit to Canada’s state pension fund for US$2.5 billion, the company’s latest step to cut debt and soothe investor concerns about the impact of weak commodity prices. The sale values the agricultural unit as a whole […] Read more