Delivering agricultural oils to global markets
West Coast Reduction tank facility critical to Canadian canola exports to global markets
Since 1964, Vancouver-based West Coast Reduction Ltd. ( WCRL) has provided critical services to farms, feedlots, restaurants, supermarkets and processors of beef, pork, poultry and fish. For decades, the company has quietly reduced food waste, diverted materials from landfill, and supplied feedstocks to advanced bio-fuel manufacturers and pet food suppliers. But its unique placement at the Port of Vancouver and the development of its extensive tank farm facilities also allows the family-owned business to provide a critical link in the export of Canadian canola oil to overseas markets.
The canola story might begin at family farms in Alberta or Saskatchewan, which increasingly rely on the sale of valuable canola to domestic and global markets. When the plant changes colour from green to yellow, the crop is harvested and shipped to one of western Canada’s crushing and refining plants where the oilrich seeds are processed. In a value-added process, grain is separated into oil and meal, with the meal portion sold as an ingredient in livestock feed, pet food and fertilizer. Oil destined for export travels by rail in tanker cars across Canada. Canola oil bound for overseas markets arrives at west coast tidewater ports.
“Our bulk storage tanks at the Port of Vancouver offer a capacity of 83,000 metric tonnes,” says Jared Girman, director of government relations and strategic initiatives at WCRL. “That ranks us among the largest independent facilities in North America and makes us the largest independent tank farm terminal on the Canadian west coast. Here, we store canola oil, vegetable oils, and tallow and ship it to destinations worldwide.”
Tank farm capacity was initially developed to handle peak storage for WCRL’s tallow products. Now handling a variety of commodities, each liquid product is pumped through secure underground, colour-coded lines to metal holding tanks. Both canola oil and kosher canola oil are pumped and stored separately for their respective export markets.
“We work with agricultural tanker vessels,” says Girman. “Most of the vessels we load range in capacity from about 30,000 to 50,000 metric tonnes. We typically load anywhere from 5,000 to 20,000 metric tonnes at any one time. The majority of our shipments are destined for overseas markets. We handle about half of Canada’s canola shipments destined for Asia, led by China. Many shipments are also bound to market destinations in Singapore, India and Japan.”
The oils are then used for a variety of purposes, from food ingredients to cooking oil. The tallow is used as a feedstock for renewable bio-fuel. Mixed with traditional fuels, bio-fuels provide more energy efficient blends that reduce the production of greenhouse gases. These biofuels are used both in the province and overseas.
WCRL is a member of the Green Marine initiative, an environmental certification program for the North American marine industry that addresses key environmental issues through 13 performance indicators as verified by an accredited third party.
Looking to the future, the Canola Council of Canada reports that the Canadian canola industry’s strategic plan supports sustainable growth in canola production and processing to meet global market demand of 26 million tonnes by 2025, with an increase in the value of exports estimated at $3.5 billion. Shipping capacity is integral to that strategic plan.
“More than 90 per cent of our canola is destined for export,” says the council’s president, Jim Everson. “Maintenance and expansion of port infrastructure plays a critical role in facilitating trade and reaching Canada’s potential for export growth.”
WCRL’s tank farm capacity was developed over decades. It required millions of dollars of investment to build and then to develop the ship- loading infrastructure that integrates it into Canada’s busiest marine shipping port.
“The development of this unique capacity allows us to handle approximately one million tonnes of liquid products annually,” says Girman. “And at our location, we’re strategically positioned to meet the growing demand for these oil products with the ability to accept oils by rail from distant agricultural producers. Currently, there are no other integrated facilities on the west coast of North America that can capitalize on the expanding opportunity in the renewable fuel industry — or provide the capacity to deliver Canada’s agricultural oils to overseas markets.”