MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S. —Ceres Global Ag Corp. on Nov. 14 announced it has entered into a long-term agreement with London Agricultural Commodities, Inc., (LAC) to provide it with storage and handling services from Ceres’ Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada, export grain elevator. 

The agreement, effective July 1, 2019, includes established storage fees, in/out handling fees and minimum volumes to be handled. Ceres will continue to operate the elevator and will provide a full range of services to LAC and its customers, including receiving product by truck and rail, drying, storing and loading product into truck, rail or vessel.

“This agreement connects the Port Colborne elevator to LAC’s vast origination network in Ontario and will allow Ceres to more effectively utilize its capacity and capabilities,” said John Carroll, vice-president of risk management and trading at Ceres. “This deal was made possible, in part, because of the great work from the Ceres team at Port Colborne and is a great example of how operational excellence can lead to commercial success.”

Under this agreement, Ceres said it will continue to use a small portion of the elevator’s storage capacity for its own oats and organic product programs. The majority of the elevator will be used for storing and handling corn, soybeans, wheat and other products for LAC.

Ceres operates facilities in Duluth, Minnesota; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Shakopee, Minnesota; Northgate, Saskatchewan; and Port Colborne, Ontario, and is headquartered in Minneapolis. Its facilities throughout North America have an aggregate grain and oilseed storage capacity of approximately 29.7 million bushels.