Ceres Global to build $350M canola-crushing complex in Saskatchewan

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Facility to capitalize on surging oilseed
​demand from green energy economy  

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Ceres Global Ag Corp. (TSX: CRP), a global agricultural, energy and industrial products merchandizing and supply chain company, announced plans today to build a $350 million integrated canola processing facility in Northgate, Saskatchewan, 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 of canola and refine over 500 thousand metric tons of canola oil, for both food and fuel, annually.
 
“This is an exciting time for Ceres Global as we position ourselves to take advantage of the unprecedented demand for oilseed crush in North America,” said Mr. Robert Day, President and Chief Executive Officer at Ceres. “While there are multiple drivers contributing to this demand, the most important is the movement towards green energy and the need for vegetable oil as feedstock for the production of renewable diesel. 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 result in the creation of over 50 full time jobs in Saskatchewan, which is the largest canola producing province in Canada.
 
Jim Titsworth, Director of Agricultural Development from BNSF Railway said: “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, SK will provide an important source of canola oil to meet the growing demand.  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. This allows Ceres-produced canola oil to have an advantage in this rapidly growing marketplace.  That same network also results in advantaged animal feed market access for canola meal.  BNSF is excited to add this facility to its growing customer investments in the renewable diesel market.”

Ceres Global, along with shareholders, VN Capital Management, Highbridge Capital Management and Whitebox Advisors, are engaged in discussions with other interested financial and industry players to fund the project.

In addition, to capitalize on the solid fundamentals of the soybean crush business in Southern Manitoba, Ceres Global is in the process of expanding its soybean crush plant in the town of Jordan, Manitoba. That project will increase the plant's capacity by 50 percent, and is on track for completion this summer.
 
About Ceres Global Ag Corp. (ceresglobalagcorp.com)
 
Ceres and its subsidiaries (“Ceres Global”) add value across agricultural, energy and industrial supply chains through efficient sourcing, storing, transporting and marketing of high-quality agricultural commodities, value-added products and raw materials. Leveraging its network of commodity logistics centers and team of industry experts, Ceres Global connects farmers to customers around the world. 
 
Ceres Global is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and together with its affiliated companies, operates 13 locations across Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Minnesota. These facilities have an aggregate grain and oilseed storage capacity of approximately 32 million bushels. 
 
Source: Ceres Global Ag Corp.