No layoffs likely after Chemtrade takeover of Canexus plant

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This article was published 24/03/2017 (3337 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon’s sodium chlorate plant is sitting pretty after Chemtrade Logistics Inc.’s friendly takeover of Canexus Corp., with no layoffs expected.

Canexus’s Calgary-based headquarters didn’t fare as well, but Chemtrade director of chlorate manufacturing Dale Bossons said that the local staffing level of 81 highly skilled tradespeople would remain in place.

Local plant production manager Rick Zetariuk has been at the Brandon facility since 1978, when he left his home at a farm near Russell for a work opportunity.

He’d initially planned on staying for six months, but he said they treated him well, enabled him to further his education and training, so he stuck around of the long haul, advancing in his career along the way.

He’s not worried about the Chemtrade takeover. Instead, he’s optimistic it’ll improve things into the long term and ensure they remain viable.

“They know they’re getting a good asset, we know we’re getting a larger company with more support for doing internal projects and planned upgrades, so I think it’s a really good fit,” he said.

By taking over Canexus, Chemtrade has added about 50 per cent to its revenue stream, taking over a chlorate plant each in Quebec and Brazil, two plants in British Columbia and the Brandon location.

Canexus was not actively trying to sell, Bossons said, adding that a hostile takeover nearly took place last year, which later became the friendly takeover by Chemtrade that took effect on March 10.

The Brandon plant was the linchpin to the deal. As both the largest sodium chlorate producer in the world and the lowest-cost producer, it was the deal’s chief procurement.

Its location, right next door to the province’s largest high-voltage yard, makes its Brandon site ideal.

It takes a lot of electricity to enable the electrochemical reaction that turns salt and water to sodium chlorate to the scale they require, Bossons said, adding that they’re Manitoba Hydro’s single largest single customer.

The sodium chlorate they produce is used to bleach paper at pulp mills throughout North America.

The pulp mill industry is “kind of tapped out” so is unlikely to require more sodium chlorate in the coming years, so expansion of the Brandon facility probably isn’t in the cards, Bossons said.

“If we make more it means someone else has to shut down, and we could do that, but we’re big enough in terms of this industry,” he said.

Still, he said that Chemtrade is committed to investing in the Brandon facility.

“Chemtrade is a stronger company and they have better access to capital,” Bossons said. “They’re very interested in investing in this facility to help improve our reliability and make us better.”

Chemtrade is also a more diversified company, Bossons said. While the Brandon location would remain solely a sodium chlorate producer, as the pulp industry offers its ebbs and flows, Chemtrade’s diversified base is expected to add greater long-term security to their local operations.

The local sodium chlorate producer, at 8080 Richmond Ave. East, has been operating for 49 years, during which time it has undergone a number of expansions, with the most recent taking place in 2008.

While they don’t have any clients in the Brandon area, they’ve maintained a long history of community support as an early adopter of the Responsible Care designation under the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada.

Among other things, this designation affirms the importance of community stewardship, which Bossons said would continue under Chemtrade.

» tclarke@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB