Winnipeg grain firm Richardson International has laid out its to-do list for $20 million worth of upgrades at three sites in Saskatchewan and at its terminal at Olds, Alta. during 2010.
The company said it will take on projects this year at its facilities at Yorkton and Canora in southeastern Saskatchewan and at Hamlin in the province’s northwest, as well as capacity upgrades at its Olds facility.
Privately-held Richardson’s plans for Olds include boosting its terminal’s grain storage capacity by 13,000 tonnes; adding a high-capacity grain dryer; enhancing on-site office space and expanding rail car capacity to accommodate a 112-car unit train.
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At Yorkton, where Richardson is already building a major new canola oil crushing plant, the company plans to put up a multi-fertilizer distribution facility with 30,000 tonnes of storage capacity, including the ability to receive fertilizer unit trains, support rail and truck receiving at 750 tonnes per hour and ship at 300 tonnes per hour, with an added 400 tonnes of overhead storage.
At Canora, about 50 km north of Yorkton, Richardson said it will build a new 1,200-tonne fertilizer storage facility with a 300-tonne-per-hour continuous high-speed blender.
And at its elevator at Hamlin, just north of North Battleford, Sask., the company plans to increase its storage capacity by 14,000 tonnes.
“This year, we will be rolling out the third phase of our multi-year strategic plan to expand and improve our operations,” Darwin Sobkow, Richardson’s vice-president for agribusiness operations, said in the company’s release.
“By investing in the front end of our Richardson Pioneer ag business centres, we are not only improving the capacity and efficiency we can provide to our customers today, we are anticipating their future needs as we work together to meet the growing global demand for quality Canadian crops.”
Among its other investments in Saskatchewan, Richardson also recently announced it will be a “presenting sponsor” for the 2011 Ford World Men’s Curling Championship, to be held April 2-10 next year in Regina.
