A former Robin Hood flour mill repurposed as an export grain elevator in the Niagara region will devote the bulk of its capacity to a new tenant starting next summer.
Minneapolis-based Ceres Global Ag Corp. announced Tuesday it has a new long-term storage and handling agreement in place with London Agricultural Commodities (LAC). The agreement is to run through Ceres’ elevator at Port Colborne, Ont., at the Lake Erie end of the Welland Canal.
The 2.3 million-bushel capacity elevator, which Ceres has owned since 2010, dates back to 1940 when Robin Hood opened what was then known as its Humberstone mill at the site. Horizon Milling, now part of Ardent Mills, shut down the flour mill in 2008.
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The agreement with LAC takes effect July 1 next year and lays out storage fees, in/out handling fees and minimum volumes to be handled, Ceres said Tuesday.
Ceres said it will continue to operate the elevator, receiving crops by truck and rail for drying, storing and/or loading onto truck, rail or laker vessels on behalf of LAC and its customers.
The deal allows for Ceres to use “a small portion” of the site’s storage capacity for its own oats and organic product programs, the company said.
The “majority” of the elevator, however, will be devoted to storing and handling commodities for LAC.
“This agreement connects the Port Colborne elevator to LAC’s vast origination network in Ontario and will allow Ceres to more effectively utilize its capacity and capabilities,” Ceres’ vice-president for risk management and trading, John Carroll, said Tuesday in a release.
London, Ont.-based LAC sources and handles corn, soybeans, wheat, feed grains and feed ingredients through a network of 16 sites across southern Ontario, and also sources crops from Prairie growers.
LAC is also the exclusive corn buyer for Suncor Energy’s ethanol plant at St. Clair, Ont., south of Sarnia. — Glacier FarmMedia Network
