Bunge back in the canola-buying game

Bunge has promised to tell the Ontario Canola Growers Association (OCGA) by then if the Hamilton plant will be able to take deliveries at harvest early next fall, says (ED: OCGA?) president Brian Wiley of Meaford. A promise of an advanced operational start will encourage plantings this spring, says Wiley.
Canola is a tough crop to store because of its high oil content, and most of the crop goes directly to the elevator from the combine. Wiley says that Bunge’s December target “left plenty of room” for an earlier opening.

Much depends upon Ministry of Environment clearances. Bunge shut down two years ago because of environmental concerns. Wiley says that it built a 150-foot-high exhaust stack with scrubbers to clean up emissions.

It’s been a tough couple of years for canola growers since Bunge shut down. The company didn’t crush a crop in 2005 or 2006, leaving Archer Daniel Midlands in Windsor as Ontario’s only market. A blisteringly hot growing season in 2005 rendered much of the crop unmarketable. Wiley says that the excellent quality 2006 crop was perhaps one third of the normal 50,000 acres planted as growers, smarting from losses in 2005, steered away from canola.

Access to Bunge is highly desirable, not just because it is a second buyer but because it is close to the major growing area. Before it was shut down, Bunge processed 80 per cent of the province’s crop.

In its announcement, Bunge said that it needs to meet the needs of both high-quality food oil users and also biodiesel. In early December, the Calgary Herald reported that vegetable oil production worldwide must grow by nearly 20 per cent by 2010 to meet the needs of both food and biodiesel. BF