Louis Dreyfus’ Yorkton, Sask. canola crushing plant is about to undergo another major expansion.
The project, announced Tuesday, is expected to add an additional canola crushing line and more than double the plant’s annual capacity to over two million tonnes upon completion. Construction is due to begin later this year.
The crush plant, built in 2009, today employs 120 people producing food-grade canola oil and feed meal.
The plant previously underwent expansion in 2013 to boost its crush to about 3,000 tonnes per day. An explosion in a meal storage bin in the fall of 2014 reduced the plant’s output for about three months.
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“This investment supports [the company’s] strategic growth plans by reinforcing core merchandizing activities, in this case with additional capacity to originate and process Canadian canola seeds to provide nourishment for people and livestock,” Michael Gelchie, Louis Dreyfus’ CEO, said Tuesday in a release.
“It also positions LDC as a strategic feedstock provider to renewable energy producers and accelerates our contribution to a global energy transition that we are excited to be a part of,” he said.
Jeremy Harrison, the provincial minister for trade and export development, said Tuesday in a separate statement Dreyfus’ expansion stands to bring Saskatchewan “even closer” to goals laid out in its 2030 Growth Plan — among them “the ambitious goal of crushing 75 per cent of the canola produced in the province.”
Dreyfus noted the plant is “strategically located in the country’s most productive agricultural zone, where canola is the dominant crop, and benefits from dual rail and good road infrastructure. The enlarged complex will create further operational synergies and enhance canola seed sourcing capabilities.”
“This project reflects our long-term commitment to North America as a key market for LDC, both in terms of origination and distribution, and is expected to contribute to continued local economic development,” Brian Conn, Louis Dreyfus’ country manager for Canada, said in the same release.
