Richardson invests US$39.07 million to enhance western Canadian network

June 12, 2013

Richardson International Limitedis investing CAD40 million (US$39.07 million) to further enhance its Richardson Pioneer network of grain handling and crop input centres across Western Canada.

This investment includes increased grain storage, high-speed fertiliser blenders, a fertiliser distribution centre and the creation of four new crop input locations. This is the latest in a series of significant investments Richardson has made to expand its operations across the country.

On May 1, 2013, the company acquired 19 grain elevators, 13 crop input centres, an export terminal in Thunder Bay and Viterra''s oat and wheat milling business. In April 2013, Richardson announced it was investing CAD120 million (US$117.21 million) to expand its grain terminal in Vancouver. Richardson is currently increasing capacity at its canola processing facility in Yorkton by 25% and also recently announced plans to expand its canola processing facility in Lethbridge.

This year, Richardson, the largest agribusiness in Canada,plans to add 14,000 tonnes of storage capacity to each of its elevators in Carseland, AB, Crooked River, SK and Shoal Lake, MB, increasing capacity at these facilities by between 54% and 68%.

Since 2007, Richardson has been focused on increasing storage capacity at its Richardson Pioneer grain facilities.Eighteen have been completed since that time.

Richardson is also further investing in its crop inputs business. Four former Viterra grain elevators - South Lakes (Stony Mountain) and Red River South (Letellier) in Manitoba, Kindersley inSaskatchewan and Lacombe inAlberta - will each receive high spend blenders, fertiliser storage and a 6,000-square-foot chemical and seed warehouse to become full-service crop input centres.

Richardson is building a 35,000-tonne fertiliser distribution centre at Carlton Crossing (Saskatoon), Saskatchewan. The company is also adding six high-speed fertiliser blenders at its Richardson Pioneer locations in Oyen and Magrath in Alberta, Kamsack, Saskatoon and Shellbrook in Saskatchewan and Shoal Lake in Manitoba.

"We continue to make investments to better serve our current and future customers. We look to provide efficiencies by having fully integrated grain handling and crop inputs businesses and being a multiple-service provider," says Darwin Sobkow, executive vice-president of Agribusiness Operations.