SASKATOON (Staff) – A new bulk grain handling facility at Vancouver will ensure grain is exported at the cheapest cost to farmers, say Saskatchewan canola growers.
But terminal operators and some grain workers at the port say the proposed new terminal is expensive and unnecessary.
A group of private investors is planning to build Mercury Terminal at Robert’s Bank near Vancouver. It would be designed to receive unit trains of clean grain direct from inland prairie terminals. The proposed terminal would transfer grain into waiting vessels with no switching or uncoupling of rail cars.
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The $140 million facility would be in business sometime in 1995 and could handle up to 3.5 million tonnes of grain annually. Proponents of the project say the lower labor, handling and storage charges will translate into a saving of $8 to $10 a tonne for farmers.
Utilization urged
Last week the annual meeting of the 1,100-member Saskatchewan Canola Growers Association passed a resolution urging Canadian grain agencies to ensure that if the terminal is built, it will be used to the benefit of prairie farmers.
“Mercury Terminal has a very good chance of succeeding if we can provide it with a consistent supply of clean grain for export,” said association member Keith Lewis of Wawota.
Existing terminals at Vancouver and Prince Rupert can meet demand now, but west coast export volumes are expected to rise sharply, said Meota-area farmer Hubert Esquirol: “This project is very forward-thinking.”
But during a later panel discussion, some people who now move grain through Vancouver downplayed the need for Mercury.
“I think it should be called Pluto terminal,” said Gerry Skura, general manager of Pioneer Grain Co.’s terminal division. “It may be in our universe but the need for it is light years away.”
Vancouver well-equipped
He said all the operational advantages that are being claimed for the Mercury project, like direct hits and unit trains, can be done by the existing Vancouver terminals.
Henry Kancs, head of the West Coast Grain Workers Union, said the Mercury Terminal is “completely unnecessary.” Existing terminals can already handle more grain than is being shipped, he said, and capacity could be increased for much less than the cost of a new terminal.
However Kancs’ view was not shared by his fellow union leader Gordon Westrand of the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union. His union has agreed to provide the labor at the new terminal, which will mean about 14 new jobs.
The funding is in place and the land is available, he said. The only remaining problem is to get commitments from prairie grain companies for a steady supply of cleaned grain.
“This motion of support (passed by the canola growers) will help make it a reality,” said Westrand.
One potential source of that grain is North East Terminal at Wadena, Sask. Company president Dwayne Anderson told Skura that despite claims that West Coast terminals have become more efficient, the cost of moving grain through the West Coast has “skyrocketed” in the last 10 years.
