G3 Canada is on track to become Western Canada’s fourth largest grain-handling company this year based on total primary elevator capacity, with the addition of nearly 84,000 tonnes of new space in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Construction continues at G3’s two newest elevators locations at Melfort, Sask., and Rycroft, Alta.
The two elevators, expected to take their first deliveries later this year, will push G3’s total primary elevator capacity in Western Canada to nearly 740,000 tonnes.
The new builds will make G3 Canada the fourth largest handler in the West, behind top dogs Viterra, Richardson-Pioneer and Parrish & Heimbecker.
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According to statistics from the Canadian Grain Commission, G3 is currently Western Canada’s sixth largest handler based on primary elevator capacity.
Cargill and Paterson Grain and ranked fourth and fifth respectively, with total primary elevator capacities in the West of 697,000 tones and 682,000 tonnes respectively.
G3’s new facilities in Rycroft and Melfort will use the same template as other new facilities in its network.
According to the company, the elevators will each have a capacity of about 42,000 tonnes, including nearly 18,000 tonnes of concrete storage and three 8,300 tonne steel storage bins.
The new elevators, both serviced by Canadian National Railway, will include a dedicated loop track that can quickly load a 150-car unit trains without the need to shunt or reconfigure trains.
The new facilities will be able to unload a Super-B truck in less than five minutes and will create permanent positions for 12 to 14 people at each location.
“We are excited to extend our network of high efficiency facilities to the farming communities around Rycroft and Melfort,” said G3 chief executive officer Don Chapman in a news release.
Grain collected through G3’s primary elevator network is shipped to G3 Terminal Vancouver, an export facility that opened in July 2020.
G3’s growing footprint is part of an industry-wide expansion that has seen Western Canada’s primary elevator capacity grow by more than 35 percent during the past decade.
In the three prairie provinces, capacity grew to nearly 8.4 million tonnes in late 2022, up from 6.2 million tonnes in 2013.
During the 10-year period ending in November 2022, growers in Alberta have seen the number of elevators in the province expand to 91 from 75, adding nearly 900,000 tonnes of primary elevator capacity.
In the same period, the total number of primary elevators in Saskatchewan rose only slightly to 174 from 177, but total primary elevator capacity grew by 25 percent to more than 4.2 million tonnes province wide.
