G3 Global Grain Group, a Winnipeg-based agribusiness, has announced plans to build a $50-million-plus year-round shipping terminal at the Port of Hamilton that will export grains and oilseeds grown in southern Ontario. The terminal is expected to be ready for 2017.
Pier 26 specifically, the Port of Hamilton was said to be a “no-brainer” for the 50,000 metric-ton facility, adding to “a growing agrifood footprint in Hamilton that already represents $1.5 billion a year” – read more in this Hamilton Spectator article.
“The Port of Hamilton is one of Ontario’s primary agricultural gateways, with agri-food tonnage exceeding 2 million tonnes in 2014. Direct access to the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway system means the port is ideally located for agri-food exporters,” said Hamilton Port Authority President & CEO Bruce Wood.
Grain “production in Ontario has been growing at a pretty dramatic rate and we’ve been eyeing this [new terminal] as a key component in our eastern origination strategy for some time now,” said Karl Gerrand, chief executive officer of G3, shared in this Globe and Mail article.
Activity is also expected to grow with Canada involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The facility will load southern Ontario wheat, soybean and corn onto Great Lakes ships and rail cars headed for G3’s ports in Trois-Rivières and Quebec City and buyers overseas. The Port of Hamilton is Canada’s largest Great Lakes port.