Returning from Portland, Oregon, USA, Canadian Pacific locomotives lead an empty Canpotex unit train through the Columbia River Gorge just east of Bingen, Washington - 18 Oct 2003 Aaron Hockley.

28 May 2011

Canpotex Expands in Lanigan

Lanigan Saskatchewan - Ground broke on an exciting new facility 20 May 2011 designed to provide the all-weather inspection, light repair, automated rail car wash, and wheel maintenance services for 5,000 Canpotex-owned rail cars in economically-happening south-central Saskatchewan.
 
Canpotex, the offshore marketing company owned jointly by the three Saskatchewan potash producing companies, Agrium Inc., Mosaic Canada Crop Nutrition, LP, (a subsidiary of The Mosaic Potash Company), and Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc., announced its investment plans in April 2011. The firm will begin work on the $55 million Rail car Maintenance and Staging Facility at a location 12 kilometres to the southwest of Lanigan, Saskatchewan, this spring. Forty jobs will be created during construction and another 20 once the facility becomes operational in fall 2012.
 
"The rail car fleet is our life line to the West Coast. As a result of managing our own preventive maintenance program, we expect to see a decrease in fleet downtime and an increase in train performance," states Jon Somers, Vice President, Planning, and Development, Canpotex.
 
The Facility will provide all-weather inspection, light repair, automated rail car wash, and wheel maintenance services for Canpotex's 5,000 rail car fleet, Somers says. Until now, Canpotex has maintained its fleet through such services provided by the railways and industry at various sites.
 
He explains that project feasibility studies were initiated in 2008, and environmental permitting, preliminary site preparation and final engineering design activities are just about complete.
 
The new facility is part of a logistics' strategy initiated in 1996 when Canpotex partnered with National Steel Car Limited of Hamilton, Ontario, to build the world's first rail car designed specifically to carry potash. The new rail car design combined with greater load capacity allows Canpotex to operate longer trains that carry more potash. By exclusively running longer trains, Canpotex is one of the first Canadian shippers to support the railways' move towards a "hook and haul" operating system.
 
"This facility is part of a logistics strategy initiated in 1996 that enabled Canpotex to build the world's first rail cars designed specifically to carry potash. The overall objective of this strategy is to support the long term growth of our business. The development of this Facility is a critical part of the strategy's evolution," Mr. Somers says.
 
He called the movement of Canpotex potash from Saskatchewan to its export terminals on the West Coast, covering a distance of over 1,600 kilometres through rugged terrain and severe climate changes, "the life-line of our logistics."
 
The location of Lanigan is at the centre of the Saskatchewan potash industry and the rail corridor for the Canadian Pacific and Canadian National Railways. Canpotex is a "hook and haul" shipper in that the company supplies and manages its own fleet of rail cars, while the railway supplies the crews and locomotives. By performing its own maintenance, Canpotex will increase the reliability and ultimately the capacity of its rail car fleet, he explained.
 
The potash arrives in Vancouver at Neptune Bulk Terminals, a joint venture of bulk commodity handlers including Canpotex Bulk Terminals Limited, who enjoys a 50 percent ownership in the terminal. The facility is operated by Neptune Terminals, a company with several decades of experience in shipping potash and fertilizers through the Port of Vancouver. Neptune Terminals boasts modern, state-of-the-art equipment and handling processes, and Canpotex continues to ship the majority of its potash through this facility. Canpotex also uses a terminal in Portland, Oregon, which it owns outright.
 
Storage capacity at the Ports of Vancouver and Portland, and at various warehouse facilities worldwide, allows Canpotex to maintain an inventory of about 350,000 tonnes of various grades of potash to ensure timely delivery to customers in peak periods of demand.
 
Canpotex is also actively involved in the ocean freight market as approximately 70 percent of its business is done on a cost and freight basis (CFR). CFR shipments provide Canpotex with the flexibility to combine cargoes, and combine potash shipments where possible to minimize ocean freight costs.
 
The permanent jobs in Lanigan will be located at the facility site, but where the employees will reside will be determined by them.