Sunday, June 26, 2022

THE ANARCHY OF CAPITALI$M
Canola crusher planned for Saskatchewan suspended

Jeremy Simes - Yesterday 
 Leader Post

A file photo of a canola field in Regina. 
GMO RAPESEED














An agriculture company that had planned to build a canola crushing facility in Saskatchewan announced on Friday the project has been paused.

Ceres Global Ag Corp. said in a news release it’s suspending its Northgate, Sask. project for a variety of factors, including inflationary pressures and “shifting macroeconomic conditions.”

“Ceres intends to continue to explore avenues to pursue a canola crush project of some form in the future, but there is no guarantee that such a project will come to fruition or would be similar to the previously announced project,” the company stated.

In May 2021, Ceres announced it was going to build a $350 million crusher in Northgate, located near the U.S. border.

It would have had capacity to crush 1.1 million metric tonnes of canola annually, and refine 500,000 metric tonnes into oil for food and fuel. Ceres estimated it would have created more than 50 full-time jobs in the province.

Ceres had been among a string of companies announcing planned canola crushing facilities in the province.

Viterra and Cargill have both announced plans to build a crusher in the Regina area. Richardson has also planned to double crush capacity at its Yorkton facility.

Federated Co-operatives Ltd. has also announced it wants to build by 2027 a $2 billion agriculture complex that features a biodiesel plant and canola crusher. The company partnered with AGT Foods on the crusher.

Ceres’s announcement could mark a blow to the industry as more crush capacity in the province would help grow the economy.

Ceres said it has terminated an equipment design and supply contract related to the project. As a result, it expects an impairment charge in the range of $25 to $30 million.

jsimes@postmedia.com



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