North West Terminal is located one mile east of Unity on Highway 14. (North West Terminal Ltd./Facebook)

By Kenneth Cheung

AN NEW ERA BEGINS

Bunge takeover brings ‘new life’ to North West Terminal, Unity mayor says

Oct 30, 2025 | 3:22 PM

Born from a farmer co-operative vision in the early 1990s, North West Terminal (NWT) grew into one of Western Canada’s largest independent grain facilities.

Now, nearly 30 years later, its story enters a new phase under the ownership of global agribusiness giant Bunge.

Mayor Bob Abel says the completed sale marks both an ending and a new beginning for one of Unity’s cornerstone industries.

“It was sad to see such a long-established company in our community have financial difficulties,” Abel said.

“But as far as Bunge stepping up and purchasing the facility, I think we’re quite excited, and we’re happy to see it’s going to be reopened and used to its full potential.”

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NWT first announced in September that it had signed an asset-purchase agreement with Bunge Canada, following months of financial strain and reduced operations.

The $27-million transaction transferred ownership of North West Terminal’s grain elevator and storage assets near Unity to Bunge, with the proceeds intended to help pay down about $42 million in bank debt.

Shareholders approved the deal at a special meeting on Oct. 22, and the sale officially closed on Oct. 29.

The sale excludes NWT’s fermentation and distillation business, which will continue to operate independently, as well as its share in Alliance Grain Terminal Ltd. in Vancouver.

Abel said the community had noticed the impact of the terminal’s slowdown in recent years, which reduced truck traffic and local business activity. With Bunge taking over, he expects to see that economic flow return.

“When [NWT] halted operations, we did see a lot of that traffic slow down,” he said.

The mayor noted that Bunge has retained most of the existing workforce — a move that preserves local jobs and could even pave the way for future expansion.

“We won’t be losing any jobs in town. In fact, maybe in the long run, it will build some more jobs for the facility and bring some more people to our town,” Abel said.

Although the terminal sits just outside Unity’s municipal boundary in the Rural Municipality of Round Valley, Abel said the town plans to continue fostering the same strong relationship it once had with the North West Terminal board.

“Moving forward, it’ll be to reintroduce ourselves to them and let them know that we’re here if they’re looking to do anything at all in regards to expansion and things like that,” he said.

He said he hopes Bunge will become an active community partner, supporting local sports and recreation programs as the former operator did for years.

“Maybe they’ll be reaching out and supporting a lot of our initiatives in town — hockey, ball, soccer, etc.,” Abel said.

“It’s probably going to be good for all of us in the long run.”

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com