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Sollio Agriculture’s new grain export terminal in Quebec now operational

Sollio Agriculture’s grain export maritime terminal, the construction of which started in the Anse au Foulon sector of the Port of Québec in 2018, is now fully operational. The terminal will allow the trans-shipment of 1 million tonnes of grain and cereals to new international markets during its first year of operation. By 2022, this number could reach 1.3 million tonnes, representing nearly $600 million in revenue for local grain farmers.

“The vision that guided us in delivering this project was to provide our member farmers with direct access to international markets,” said Ghislain Gervais, president of the Sollio Co-operative Group. “Today, our Québec City terminal is now their hub for grain and cereal exports, in addition to generating tangible benefits for farmers, for the region and for farming families across the country.”

Ocean vessels can be docked and loaded at the new terminal, which is supplied by ships from the Great Lakes and is also easy to reach by road and rail. This allows farmers to market their crops year-round and on a larger scale to markets such as Europe, Central America and the Middle East. The maritime terminal aims to support the prosperity of farming families from coast to coast by opening the doors to new international markets to which they previously did not have full access for exports such as corn, soybeans and wheat.

“The commissioning of the terminal is excellent news for our entire industry. As farmers, we continue to benefit from our close relationship with our local cooperatives, while having the opportunity to optimize the merchandising of our crops with the Sollio & Grains Québec partnership. We also benefit from simplified logistics: we deliver our crops to the local grain centre and from there everything is taken care of to get it to the export terminal.”

– Laurent Bousquet, grain and cereal farmer

The construction of the maritime terminal created around 50 direct and indirect permanent jobs, represents a $110-million investment and is expected to generate economic benefits of nearly $18 million per year for the greater Québec City area until 2037. This project was primarily funded by Sollio Co-operative Group and made possible thanks to contributions from the Québec government, Investissement Québec and Fonds de solidarité FTQ. The Port of Québec also received a grant from the Canadian government to upgrade infrastructure required for the project.

“Increasing Quebec’s exports is at the heart of our economic development vision,” said Pierre Fitzgibbon, Quebec’s minister of economy and innovation. “Sollio Agriculture’s new marine terminal opens the door for Québec farmers to major foreign markets. It is an opportunity for Québec to boost its grain and cereal exports and increase its international influence. ”