Port of Hamilton secures new grain terminal

The Port of Hamilton says the new terminal will be used for the importing and exporting of grains and oil seeds and will be located at Pier 26 just off the QEW. It operates inland grain and deep-sea port terminals stretching from Saskatchewan to Québec City as well two Great Lakes bulk carriers and a fleet of grain hopper cars.

“I don’t really know what it is that Glencore is hoping to do, or whether or not they would even consider an existing competitor in the Canadian market as a viable suitor for the pieces they’re trying to sell off”, G3 Chief Executive Karl Gerrand told Reuters in an interview.

G3 is targeting annual grain shipments of 800,000 metric tons from the Ontario terminal, Gerrand said.

For the port of Hamilton, G3’s announcement represents yet another expansion of agricultural business in shipping facilities once dominated by steel.

G3 Canada, the venture between Saudi Arabia and Bunge Ltd., plans to spend at least C$50 million ($38 million) to build a grain terminal in southern Ontario to boost exports from the East Coast. The facility will be built by G3 Canada Ltd, the company formed to take over the former Canadian Wheat Board. He said the company seeks to become the grain marketing “partner of choice” for Ontario growers. In recent years, the Port of Hamilton has attracted $300 million in private sector investment, serving a diverse range of industries, including agri-food, manufacturing, infrastructure and construction materials, and petrochemicals.

After the federal government ended the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly on buying western Canadian wheat and barley in 2012, CWB began building and buying a network of elevators, port terminals and two grain ships as it transformed into a full-service grain handler to compete with the other agricultural companies that began buying and selling western grains.

“G3 Canada is a new business”, Martin said.

Agricultural cargo has grown from nine per cent of the ports imports and exports to 20 per cent between 2008 and 2014.

About Hamilton Port Authority Managed by the Hamilton Port Authority, the Port of Hamilton is the largest port in Ontario, handling more than 10 million tonnes of cargo per year. From there, they will be shipped onwards to export markets around the world.