Cargill Building New Canola Plant in Canada as Demand Soars

Cargill is building a new $350 million canola plant in Saskatchewan, Canada, to take advantage of the booming demand for the oilseed. Canola futures recently hit record highs, and soybeans reached multi-year highs as demand for canola to process into vegetable oil and animal feed is greater than the available supply. Refiners are also planning to produce renewable diesel from canola and soybeans to comply with Canadian government mandates and several U.S. states to manufacture cleaner-burning fuels. “There’s going to continue to be a strong pull in countries like China, from a food perspective,” says Jeff Vassart, president of Cargill’s Canadian unit. “We do see demand increasing for renewable diesel too, and we’re going to make sure we get positioned for it.” The new plant in Regina, Saskatchewan, will have the capacity to crush one million tons of canola every year. Reuters says the plant is expected to start working in early 2024 and will create 50 full-time jobs. Cargill will also be modernizing its two canola crush facilities in Alberta and Saskatchewan to increase volume. Canada’s canola stocks will drop to their lowest point in eight years sometime later this summer, but Cargill still plans to crush at a strong pace.