Port Colborne grain elevator expanding services next summer

Expect to see more transport trucks, trains and ship traffic next summer at Ceres Global Ag Corp.’s Port Colborne facility as the company will loan out storage and handling services.

In a release, Ceres said it entered into a long-term agreement with London Agricultural Commodities, Inc. (LAC) — it buys, processes, stores, and sells agricultural commodities — which goes into effect July 1, 2019.

The agreement established storage fees, in/out handling fees and minimum volumes to be handled.

Ceres will continue to operate the elevator, the former Robin Hood Multifoods on Sherwood Forest Lane, and it said it will provide a full range of services to LAC and its customers, including receiving product by truck and rail, drying, storing, and loading product into truck, rail or vessel.

“This agreement connects the Port Colborne elevator to LAC’s vast origination network in Ontario and will allow Ceres to more effectively utilize its capacity and capabilities,” said John Carroll, vice-president of risk management and trading at Ceres.

“This deal was made possible, in part, because of the great work from the Ceres team at Port Colborne and is a great example of how operational excellence can lead to commercial success.”

Under the agreement, Ceres said it will continue to use a small portion of the elevator’s storage capacity for its own oats and organic product programs.

The majority of the elevator will be used for storing and handling corn, soybeans, wheat and other products for LAC.

Ceres operates in five locations, Duluth, Minneapolis and Shakopee, Minn.; Northgate, Sask.; and Port Colborne. It is headquartered in Minneapolis.