Viterra plans to spend more than $34 million to upgrade and expand its grain handling network in Western Canada.
The company will build a new high-throughput concrete elevator near Grimshaw, Alta., and expand capacity at an existing elevator near Grassy Lake, Alta.
The Grimshaw elevator will be Viterra’s second new facility in Alberta’s Peace River region.
In 2010, it opened a facility at Sexsmith, Alta.
The Grimshaw elevator will have storage capacity of 30,000 tonnes and be capable of loading a 104 car train.
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All of the grain sourced through Grimshaw will be exported, either through Prince Rupert or the Port of Vancouver.
Preliminary site work is expected to begin this fall.
Kyle Jeworski, Viterra’s North American president, said the Grimshaw area has good grain production and an established customer base.
“We’ve been operating in that area for nearly 100 years,” he said.
“They have very solid grain production up there and we saw an opportunity … for us to reinvest in our network there.”
The expansion at Grassy Lake will add two 7,000 tonne steel storage bins, boosting existing capacity at the facility by 14,000 tonnes to 36,500 tonnes.
It will also include operational improvements aimed at increasing logistical flexibility and improving grain handling efficiency.
“By strengthening our significant presence in Alberta, we are delivering on our commitment to provide our customers with superior service backed by industry leading assets,” Jeworski said in a Nov. 5 news release.
“Our reinvestment in these targeted areas will accommodate in-creased farmer deliveries and facilitate higher and more efficient throughput.”
The Alberta investments are the latest in a series of infrastructure im-provements initiated by Viterra since the company was taken over by Swiss multinational Glencore Xstrata in December 2012.
Viterra announced plans in May to spend more than $20 million upgrading Saskatchewan grain terminals at White Star, Humboldt, Waldron and Ituna.
It also completed Saskatchewan expansions at Gull Lake and Fairlight.
