Fertilizer firm Agrico Canada plans to expand its UAN port terminal space at Hamilton after being asked to clear out of its leased storage space elsewhere.
The Mississauga company on Thursday announced a $2.5 million expansion of its liquid terminal at Hamilton, doubling its UAN storage capacity to 40,000 tonnes.
The expansion, due to be ready for the 2012 season, is to include another load-out system to increase the facility’s shipping capability “fourfold,” the company said.
“The continuing expansion of the UAN market has created a demand for more storage and having 40,000 metric tonnes storage at Hamilton allows Agrico to bring in fully loaded vessels of UAN,” company president Bob Whitelaw said in a release.
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Agrico said it already expects more expansion will be needed both at Hamilton and at its 10,000-tonne capacity terminal at St. Thomas, Ont., about 25 km south of London, “due to the growing reliance on UAN.”
Also driving Agrico’s near-term need for storage, however, is the pending end of its lease on UAN storage at Port Stanley, on Lake Erie about 15 km south of St. Thomas.
The Port Stanley facility’s owner, Toronto asphalt producer McAsphalt, has need of the storage space Agrico now occupies, Agrico said Thursday.
Agrico’s UAN storage holdings also include 2,400 tonnes of capacity at its manufacturing plant at Cobourg, Ont., and 17,000 tonnes of capacity at Oak Bluff, Man., just southwest of Winnipeg.
