Richardson ships first vessel of feed barley to Japan in open market

December 13, 2012 (Winnipeg, MB)
Richardson International Limited is pleased to announce it has successfully loaded its first vessel of feed barley to Japan in the new open market environment. Richardson recently loaded a total of 42 500 tonnes of feed barley, which originated from Richardson Pioneer elevators in Saskatchewan and Alberta, on the MV Mendocino and MV Coral Garnet out of the Port of Prince Rupert destined for Japan.

“Japan has always been a solid customer and regular destination for Canadian feed barley,” says Terry James, Richardson’s Vice-President, Export Marketing. “With tight global feed grain stocks presenting opportunities for growers, we can now make the most of those opportunities by being able to ship our customers’ grain directly to the marketplace in Japan.”

Following the enactment of the Marketing Freedom for Grains Farmers Act on August 1, Richardson has been successful marketing farmers’ wheat and barley directly to end-use customers around the world. In November, Richardson shipped malting barley to South Africa and Colombia out of Vancouver. Richardson shipped 49 000 tonnes of feed barley to Saudi Arabia in early October out of the Port of Churchill. This was the first vessel to load barley in the Port of Churchill since 1992 and the largest barley shipment ever to occur out of Churchill.

As a result of the new open market, Richardson has been able to further develop relationships with its overseas customers and provide access to new end-use markets for Canadian farmers. Richardson can now ship multi-commodity vessels to customers around the world, loading wheat, barley, canola and peas in combination shipments to capture freight advantages.

“Being able to load larger vessels with multiple commodities puts Canadian producers on a more competitive environment into longer-distance markets,” says James. “By capturing freight advantages, we can provide our customers with positive price opportunities to sell their grain to markets around the globe.”

Richardson International is Canada’s largest, privately owned agribusiness and has served farmers across the country for more than 150 years. Based in Winnipeg, Richardson has over 1,800 employees across Canada and is a worldwide handler and merchandiser of all major Canadian-grown grains and oilseeds. Richardson is one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies and is recognized as a global leader in agriculture and food processing.

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