Ceres Global to build $350 million canola crush facility in Northgate, Saskatchewan

Ceres Global Ag Corp. announced plans May 25 to build a $350 million integrated canola processing facility in Northgate, Saskatchewan, Canada, 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 more than 500,000 tons of canola oil per year for both food and fuel. The facility is expected to be operational by summer 2024.

“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 Robert Day, Ceres Global president and CEO. “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.”

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said, “With its direct connection to the BNSF railroad, Ceres can offer Saskatchewan growers access to a variety of markets in the United States.”

Demand for renewable diesel feedstocks is rapidly growing, said Jim Titsworth, director of agricultural development from BNSF Railway. “The BNSF network is ideally suited to supply the production, processing and distribution of these feedstocks. A crush plant at Northgate, Saskatchewan, 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.”

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.

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.