Ceres Global Ag Corp., in their last quarterly report said they had established a gross profit of $3.9 million in their final quarter compared with a loss of $280,000 in the fourth quarter of last year.
Patrick Bracken, CEO for the company, reported revenue was up 119 per cent to $119.4 million and the company had been able to post a net income of $1.2 million compared with a net loss of $3.5 million a year earlier.
One of the major trends connected to the positive turnaround was the fact the company loaded 774 railcars from their new global transportation hub in Northgate, Sask. even though the company’s large elevator wasn’t completely finished until the end of April of this year. That railcar movement represented an increase of 87 per cent compared with the fourth quarter last year.
Most of the grains and oilseeds shipped from the Northgate centre were destined for the United States, Latin America and Asia, the company said.
The company’s grain, fertilizer and oil and petroleum transportation hub is located right on the Canadian/U.S. border at Northgate and is served by rail by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad.
The company noted they had renewed an agreement with Elbow River Marketing to unload liquefied petroleum gas and that they had loaded 153 cars of propane at Northgate during the last quarter, all destined for the U.S.
Ceres has begun construction of a fertilizer storage warehouse at Northgate in support of their agreement with Koch Fertilizer Canada, ULC to handle and store fertilizer at that site. They said availability for grain suppliers to improve transportation costs by back hauling agriculture inputs to points of origin, should work favourably for all.
In the meantime, Ceres said their main 12.2 million bushel Duluth, Minn., grain storage facility will remain as their primary facility in that region, while they closed down three storage elevators near Buffalo, N.Y. and Minneapolis as well as a smaller facility in Duluth. By doing so, they will be reducing their operating expenses by between $2 million and $2.5 million.
