There is no truth to rumors that Saskatchewan Wheat Pool wants to sell its two high-throughput elevators in Manitoba, a company spokesperson said last week.
The two AgPro terminals, one at Boissevain and one north of Brandon, will have a combined capacity of 84,000 tonnes.
The concrete terminal near Brandon was completed this month, while the Boissevain facility is scheduled for completion in January 2000.
Rumors persist in southwestern Manitoba that the facilities are for sale. But Bill Hunt, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool’s interim chief executive officer, said the rumors are unfounded.
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“We have no plans to sell those,” said Hunt.
The high-throughputs are part of Project Horizon, the wheat pool’s strategy to reshape its grain handling facilities on the Prairies.
When the project was first announced, the pool said it would spend $270 million on 22 high-throughput elevators. There were also plans to close more than 200 elevators in 170 locations.
There is speculation in southwestern Manitoba that too many high-throughput elevators are being built for the region. There are 15 high-throughputs planned or already built in a region that extends as far north as Binscarth and as far east as Killarney, Man. The total capacity of those facilities approaches 300,000 tonnes.
Another rumor that surfaced this month is that Agricore would postpone construction of its terminal at Elva, southwest of Melita, Man. That rumor was sparked by the rain that plagued the region this spring and interfered with seeding.
Agricore president Charlie Swanson said the terminal at Elva will go ahead as planned. “There’s absolutely nothing to that,” he said, when asked about the speculation.
The Elva facility, scheduled for completion in the summer of 2000, will have a capacity of 15,000 tonnes. While this spring’s wet weather will cut yields in the region, Swanson said there will be another full growing season before the Elva terminal swings into service.
The construction of the terminals coincides with the consolidation of grain handling facilities across the Prairies.
More centralized concrete and steel structures are replacing wooden elevators, which are gradually being closed and dismantled or sold.
Last week, a community in southwestern Manitoba learned that it would be next in line to lose one of its wooden elevators. Paterson Grain said it will close its elevator at Waskada, Man. this summer.
