Canada’s largest canola crusher will spend $14 million to add a refinery to its crushing plant at Harrowby, Man.
That’s good news for farmers in western Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan who deliver to the plant, said Rick Watson, general manager of oilseed trading for Canamera Foods.
“I think it means a more secure market,” said Watson, explaining the seed crushing run at the plant will be more consistent once the expansion begins to process oil into higher quality products.
“At times, the Harrowby plant has been subject to the ups and downs on the world oil market trading arena.
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“The further you are along the processing chain and the closer you are to the final consumer with refined oils, the more stable the market is.”
The plant produces about 600 tonnes of canola oil per day. The refinery is expected to handle all that, starting next March.
Watson said crude oil from the plant had been going to Canamera’s refineries in Eastern Canada. The company also sold some of the crude oil to other refineries in North America and offshore.
There’s strong and growing demand for refined canola oil in North America and Asia, said Watson.
When the refinery at Harrowby is finished, all Canamera crushing plants will have refineries on site or nearby, said Watson.
Canamera is looking at increasing its crushing capacity in Western Canada and adding more refining capacity in Eastern Canada, said Watson.
But the company has no definite plans.
“Markets are a little bit difficult right now, so it’s kind of under consideration,” he explained.
Aside from the Harrowby plant, Canamera owns crushers and refineries at Nipawin, Sask., and Altona, Man., a crushing plant at Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., with a refinery at nearby Wainwright, Alta., and a crushing plant in Hamilton, Ont., served by refineries in Toronto and Montreal.
