Producer-owned grain terminals will be ready for whatever changes are coming down the road or railroad track, says the new chair of the Canadian Inland Terminal Association.
Evan Simpson, who also heads the board of Prairie West terminal at Plenty, Sask., said the industry is changing faster than people realize.
“There are so many things we’re learning about in the transportation and marketing issues,” he said.
Association members need to approach these changes from both the farmer and grain handler viewpoints, he said. That’s why he thinks it is important for the terminals to have an association and meet regularly.
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CITA won’t become a lobby group or set policy, Simpson said, but the volume of grain the member facilities will handle in a rationalized elevator system means they will have influence.
“As our association grows with time and expands, we will be recognized as a force in the industry.”
CITA was founded in 1995, but held its first convention earlier this month in Regina. In addition to Prairie West, there are eight other members, all from Saskatchewan: CMI Terminal JV at Naicam; Mainline Terminal Ltd. at Moosomin; Mid-Sask Terminal Ltd. at Watrous; North East Terminal Ltd. at Wadena; North West Terminal Ltd. at Unity; South West Terminal Ltd. at Gull Lake; Terminal 22 at Balcarres; and the oldest, Weyburn Inland Terminal.
Simpson said although the terminals are theoretically in competition with each other, they are actually complementary.
“We share similar beliefs – producers doing things for themselves,” he said. “They do stem from grassroots community involvement.”
Eight of the nine terminals were built in partnership with either Cargill, Alberta Wheat Pool or Pioneer Grain. With these and other grain companies building concrete facilities across the Prairies there has been concern about overbuilding. He sees car allocation as a bigger problem for producer terminals.
“Car allocation and volume drives them. Cash flows at some of them would be a lot better if they could get cars.”
He said shareholders appear generally happy with how the terminals are performing.
“Most, with the exception of Weyburn, are just really nicely getting off the ground.”
