THUNDER BAY – Business – There is good news for prairie farmers and for the City of Thunder Bay. Richardson International has doubled the company’s capacity here in the Port of Thunder Bay. Richardson International announced it is re-opening the Current River terminal, which was part of the company’s Viterra acquisition last May.
The Current River terminal, which has a storage capacity of 235,000 tonnes, adds to Richardson’s heritage Thunder Bay terminal.
Richardson’s original terminal, which the company opened in 1919, has 208,000 tonnes of storage, bringing Richardson’s total storage capacity in the Port of Thunder Bay to 443,000 tonnes.
Last June, Richardson International started the process of cleaning and restoring the Current River Terminal.
The facility at the mouth of the Current River had not been in operation for the past three years. The work required cleaning up the facility and grounds, commissioning the scales and re-starting the terminal’s operating systems.
The first rail cars were received in October and the terminal began loading vessels in November.
Richardson’s Current River terminal received both the first laker and the first salt water ship of the 2014 Thunder Bay shipping season. The terminal, which will handle mainly canola, oats and wheat, loaded its first vessel of the season on 22 April, a full month later than usual given the extreme winter weather that delayed the thaw of the Great Lakes.
Richardson International is Canada’s largest agribusiness. Based in Winnipeg, the company is a worldwide handler and merchandiser of all major Canadian-grown grains and oilseeds and a vertically-integrated processor and manufacturer of oats and canola-based products.
