Richardson Pioneer has announced a $25 million expansion that will double the grain handling capacity at its Estevan grain terminal.
In a press release issued in late December, the Winnipeg-based company said the project will include a new workhouse, office and storage facility which will increase their capacity from 12,000 metric tonnes to over 24,000 tonnes.
Darwin Sobkow, vice-president of Agribusiness Operations for Richardson Pioneer, said their current facility just west of the city is not adequate to meet the needs of their customer base and an expansion was badly needed.
"Both from a producer-production side as well as from a rail-shipping side," Sobkow said in an interview with The Mercury Thursday. "Estevan is a very important market for us and we felt that we needed to upgrade our facility to meet the increasing demands."
Word of a possible expansion came to light over two years ago when the company raised concerns about the west intersection for the heavy truck bypass around Estevan. Before a recent change by the Ministry of Highways, the intersection between the bypass and Highway 39 would have been near their terminal, which Richardson Pioneer claimed would have prevented future expansion. With the intersection now further to the west of the terminal, the green light was given.
"(The decision) did very much have a big impact on it," said Sobkow. "Without the co-operation from the Saskatchewan government as well as the municipality, it wouldn't have allowed us to make this size of an investment at the Estevan site."
Sobkow added the investment is a sizable one and reflects the importance of the Estevan operation in their overall structure.
The company is currently working on an upgrade of its fertilizer plant, which will include a 6,000-tonne fertilizer shed with a 200-tonne per hour and state-of-the-art blending tower. Construction on the rest of the upgrade is expected to begin this spring with an eye towards being operational by 2013.
"It will have a totally new shipping and handling facility along with 12,000 tonnes of storage," said Sobkow, who noted the project will also increase shipping capacity to 50,000 bushels per hour and expand to a 112-car spot for shipping. A full cleaning line for wheat and canola will also be built.
"So, it will be a concrete slip and it will be tied into our existing facilities. We will still utilize our current facility for storage but all the primary functions will be done out of this new facility."
Sobkow said the expansion will also mean an increase in employees at their facility; however, he admitted given the labour market in the area, that could be a difficult proposition.
"If we can find people to work in Estevan it would mean some additional employment," he said. "We could use more people now. It's a very tough labour market."
Richardson International is Canada's largest, privately owned agribusiness and has served farmers across the country for more than 150 years. Based in Winnipeg, Richardson has over 1,700 employees across Canada and is a worldwide handler and merchandiser of all major Canadian-grown grains and oilseeds.
