Richardson Acquires Two Alberta Retail Facilities

Richardson Pioneer Ltd., Winnipeg, Man., announced on Aug. 28 that it has acquired two new crop inputs facilities in northeastern Alberta – Webb’s Crop Services Ltd. in Vermilion, and Agro Guys Inc. near Forestburg. The acquisitions will close on Aug. 31 and employees will join the Richardson Pioneer team on Sept. 1.

Richardson said both businesses are independent, full-service retail crop inputs centers that provide local growers with seed, fertilizer, and crop protection products. Customers at both locations will also have access to grain handling and merchandising support through Richardson’s Ag Business Centers in Lamont, Lavoy, and Legacy Junction, Alba., and Marshall, Sask.

“Both businesses have been key service providers in their markets,” said Tom Hamilton, vice president of Agribusiness Operations at Richardson. “We look forward to establishing a presence in these communities by working with local farmers to provide them with leading products and technologies, year-round support through our CropWatchTM agronomy team, and Richardson Pioneer’s best-in-class service.”

Richardson is expanding its retail presence in Western Canada. The company acquired Crop First Agro in Grenfell, Sask., in January, and recently opened a new crop inputs location in Elrose, Sask. Construction will be completed on a facility in Pasqua, Sask., later this fall, and Richardson will open another new crop inputs center near Wakaw, Sask., next spring. Richardson Pioneer is a division of Richardson International Ltd., which has more than 2,500 employees across Canada, the U.S., and the U.K.

“We are focused on aggressively growing our retail crop inputs network across the Prairies,” Hamilton said. “Whether through acquisition, building new, or enhancing our existing facilities, we will continue to pursue opportunities to expand our Richardson Pioneer network and offer our services to more customers in strategic locations.”

New Potash Facility Open

K+S Group and partner Pacific Coast Terminals (PCT) will jointly celebrate the opening of a new potash handling and storage facility in Port Moody, one of Vancouver’s ports Aug. 28. K+S said that following the launch of production at the new K+S Bethune potash plant in June, this means a further important milestone has been reached.

“This potash loading facility, which is the most modern in the world, will play an important role in the success of our potash activities in Canada,” says Dr. Burkhard Lohr, chairman of the K+S board of executive directors. “Bethune will give us access to high-grade resources for generations and we will be shipping products to our customers all over the world from here.”

The state-of-the-art K+S facility at the PCT site in the port of Vancouver includes an unloading station for freight cars, 1,260 meters of conveyor belts as well as a 263-meter-long shed for the storage of a total of 160,000 mt of potash products. Freight trains carrying 18,000 mt of products can be unloaded and ships with a capacity of 70,000 mt can be loaded at the facility’s quay.

The potash produced at the new K+S Bethune plant in Saskatchewan will be shipped to the new port facility in the west of Canada in freight trains that will be up to 3 kilometers long. The potash will then be unloaded, stored and loaded onto ships for shipment to customers, primarily in South America and Asia.

 

Vessel Owner Gives Update

Bibby Line Ltd., Liverpool, the owners of the MV Cheshire, a fertilizer-laden vessel which caught fire off the coast of the Canary Islands earlier this month, provided an update on the vessel Aug. 27, showing a photograph with no smoke coming from the ship. It also reported that salvors have received permission from the Spanish authorities to bring the vessel in closer but no less than 12 nautical miles from the shore, which would make their salvage tasks easier.

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