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Ceres Global to build $350-million canola crush facility in Saskatchewan

Ceres Global Ag Corp., a global agricultural, energy and industrial products merchandizing and supply chain company, has announced plans to build a $350 million integrated canola processing facility in Northgate, Sask., to help meet the current and growing global demand for canola products. The state-of-the-art facility will have capacity to process 1.1 million metric tons (MMT) of canola and refine over 500,000 metric tons of canola oil, for both food and fuel, annually.

“While there are multiple drivers contributing to the demand [for oilseed crush in North America], the most important is the movement towards green energy and the need for vegetable oil as feedstock for the production of renewable diesel,” said Robert Day, president and CEO at Ceres, in a statement. “We have been analyzing canola crush at Northgate for several years, as its location along the Canada-U.S. border is ideally located to originate canola seed from our farmer partners. And, with a direct connection to BNSF Railway, it provides the most efficient access to the U.S. market and U.S. ports. Our Northgate facility includes a 2.7 million-bushel shuttle-loading grain elevator and two 120-car loop tracks, providing ‘construction-ready’ infrastructure and shortening the timeline to complete this project.”

The facility is expected to be operational by summer 2024 and is expected to create more than 50 full time jobs in Saskatchewan.

Commenting on the project, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said, “Adding value to agriculture products right here in Saskatchewan will help us reach the goals set out in our Growth Plan. We welcome Ceres Global’s investment in Northgate to support and provide southeast Saskatchewan growers with a unique and valuable option for marketing their canola. With its direct connection to the BNSF railroad, Ceres can offer Saskatchewan growers access to a variety of markets in the United States.”

“Demand for renewable diesel feedstocks is rapidly growing. The BNSF network is ideally suited to supply the production, processing and distribution of these feedstocks. A crush plant at Northgate will provide an important source of canola oil to meet the growing demand,” said Jim Titsworth, BNSF Railway’s director of agricultural development. “Northgate has a unique location, both in Canada’s canola growing region and with direct rail access to the major renewable diesel and food processing markets via BNSF’s network.”