UNITY, SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA — The board of directors of North West Terminal Ltd. said the company will idle its grain elevator located near Unity, Saskatchewan, Canada, and suspend all purchases of grain from producers, letting its primary elevator license expire. A distillery facility located on the same site will remain open, the company said.

The company said “significant headwinds in the grain industry” have contributed to negative margins for the company’s grain division over the past several years, a trend that is expected to continue into 2025.

The idling of the grain elevator is part of a strategic review process initiated by North West Terminal on Aug. 16. As part of the evaluation process, North West Terminal said it will keep the Unity grain elevator idle until margins improve or part of the elevator is sold.

“The temporary idling of the grain elevator is a necessary step during these turbulent times,” said Brad Sperle, president of North West Terminal and a farmer near Unity. “We feel it is in the best interests of NWT and stakeholders to idle the elevator and focus efforts on the distillery business while the strategic review process is underway.”

The Unity grain elevator began operations in 1996 as a 1.2-million-bushel inland grain terminal, but over the past 28 years has expanded to total storage capacity of 2.3 million bushels, making it one of the largest grain handling facilities in Western Canada, according to North West Terminal. It can receive up to 30,000 bushels of grain per hour on two driveways, clean grain at a rate of up to 20,000 bushels per hour, dry grain at a rate of 2,500 bushels per hour, and load rail cars on its rail siding at a rate of 30,000 bushels per hour, according to the company.