Winnipeg | Reuters — A condominium developer has signed a $1 billion deal to export Canadian canola oil to China, according to the Canadian government.
The deal was one of more than 20 commercial agreements signed during Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s visit to China, which wrapped up this week.
The government said on its website Saturday that LeMine Investment Group, an Ontario real estate, investment and trading company, had signed a seven-year deal to export canola oil to China and agreed to promote it with Guizhou Fengguan Group.
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LeMine executive director Thomas Liu was in China and was not immediately available for comment, one of the company’s staff said.
“We’re really supportive of anything that’s going to improve trade because China is a huge and growing market for us,” Patti Miller, president of the Canola Council of Canada, said Thursday.
LeMine must arrange to purchase from an existing Canadian seed crusher canola oil that it can then export, Miller said, adding that she did not know details of the agreement.
Companies with Canadian canola-crushing operations include Bunge, Archer Daniels Midland, Richardson International, Cargill, Viterra, TRT-ETGO and Louis Dreyfus.
The government would not release further details, saying the agreement was private.
Canada shipped 885,000 tonnes of canola oil to China in 2013, making it the second-largest export market after the U.S., according to Statistics Canada data.
— Reporting for Reuters by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg.
