A group in southeastern Saskatchewan is gauging farmer support for a proposed new “commodity hub” project that would handle grain and transloading of commodities such as crude oil and fertilizer.
An organization dubbed Comtrax Logistics Solutions proposes a $50 million to $75 million project somewhere on Canadian Pacific Railway’s Soo Line, “most likely” in the Weyburn, Sask. area, including a 60,000-tonne capacity crop handling facility and 260-rail car capacity loop track.
Town hall-style producer meetings are planned starting Dec. 8 in Regina, with 10 subsequent meetings throughout the Weyburn/Estevan area, to “explain the proposal and ask farmers for their support.”
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If interest is deemed sufficient, shares in the proposed project would be sold to producers “at a later date.” Comtrax’s plan so far also calls for a “significant portion” of funds to be raised through “commercial partnerships.”
“Farmer investment in grain handling has dwindled with the sale of many of the farmer-owned grain companies over the past decade,” Weyburn-area farmer Mark Bratrud said in a Comtrax release.
Bratrud, one of a group of farmers who opposed the eventual sale of farmer-owned Weyburn Inland Terminal to Parrish and Heimbecker in 2014, is now in a farmer group that Comtrax said has been working on the plan for the past two years.
The plan, he said, “will again provide farmers with the service they desire along with a voice in grain handling.”
The concept calls for the Comtrax facility to operate as a fee-for-service public house, also offering the ability to unload products imported to the region. The site is envisioned as also handling crude oil, aggregate, fertilizer and other commodities.
The grain elevator component also calls for “half or more” of the facility’s capacity to be available as condo grain storage for use by commercial grain traders, handlers or end-users.
The hub proposal wouldn’t be the first for Saskatchewan’s oil-rich southeast. Toronto-based Ceres Global Ag Corp. has been developing such a hub for grain, oil and other commodities at Northgate, about 60 km southeast of Estevan.
In help-wanted ads in local papers in recent weeks, Comtrax has billed its Weyburn-area proposal as “a producer-driven project that will revolutionize and improve market access in southern Saskatchewan for agricultural and other raw commodities… with a focus on bringing value back to commodity producers.”
The farmer group has also recruited Kevin Hursh, a well known communications consultant and executive director for Saskatchewan’s mustard and canaryseed development commissions, to present at its first four meetings.
“It’s time for producers to have a voice and for farmers to have some influence again in this modern and ever-changing industry,” Bratrud said in Comtrax’s release. “Potential commercial partners will be watching the level of interest shown by farmers.” — AGCanada.com Network
