The Weyburn Inland Terminal reported a strong third quarter of their fiscal year, and also announced they will be undertaking a $5 million upgrade project to improve their grain receiving system.

WIT reported after-tax earnings of $4,092,000, or $4.14 a share, for the January to September period, up from $2,738,000 or $2.82 a share for the same period a year ago.

Higher volumes of all grains were handled, including wheat, durum, malt barley, canola and flax. The Terminal was able to provide opportunities to help their customers clean up inventory left from 2006 coming into the 2007 harvest, although congestion during the fall limited delivery opportunities in September and October.

Excellent operating performances from the crop inputs division, the Pro-Pellet business and from Vigro See and Supply made significant contributions to the improved results.

"While many companies charge different handling fees at different times of the year, to farmers who have different crop qualities in different market areas, WIT has maintained our focus on providing high value, low-cost services to all of our farmer customers. We believe this focus on farmers' needs will pay off in the long term," said president Claude Carles.

Explaining about the upgrade project, CEO Rob Davies said construction will take about 10 months to complete.

"Waiting in line to deliver grain at busy times is a concern for all of our customers, whether they are hauling their own grain or paying custom truckers. A significant redesign of our receiving system is being implemented to improve unload speed by at least 50 per cent," said Davies, adding that other improvements will include an upgrade to the dust control system, and separate storage for Identity Preserved grain programs which are becoming more prevalent.

"Unfortunately there will be some disruption on site through the construction process over the next 10 months or so. We hope our customers will bear with us through any delays, as the end result will provide for significantly faster service," said Davies.

WIT has paid out a total of $942,000 in freight and dockage premiums to producers in the first nine months of 2007, and the company continues to file the lowest handling tariffs, and is the only major grain-handling company to offer net weight tariffs.

Working capital on hand as of Sept. 30 was $17,507,000, after the common and preferred dividend payments of $2,541,000 in 2007, representing a yield of 8.5 per cent based on September's closing share price of $30.50. Share prices have been increasing since then, trading at $36 in October.

"Very strong canola, flax and malt barley marketing and movement by WIT provided both cash flow and movement opportunities for customers this fall, especially since CWB grain movement has not been able to stay ahead of producer delivery demands. The volume of grain to move will mean that having the right grain available for shipping opportunities as they present themselves will be critical," said Davies. "We will continue to aggressively market flax and canola, and our professional agronomists will be working with customers to plan for the 2008 crop."

Carles noted there is a renewed optimism in the agricultural community. "Crop values have improved and tightening world inventories indicate that trend will continue. The directors and staff at WIT look forward to working with our customers to take advantage of the opportunities before us," he said.