Miller Magazine Issue 110 / February 2019

26 NEWS MILLER / FEBRUARY 2019 AGI announces expansion of food platform Ag Growth International Inc. (AGI) announced it has acquired Improtech Ltd., a provider of engineering solu- tions to the food and beverage industry. Improtech is a professional engineering services firm specializing in provi- ding engineering design, project ma- nagement and integration of new ma- chinery and processes within the food and beverage industry. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Improtech has evolved from mechanical engineering consulting to providing clients with complete design/build solutions carefully tailored to accommodate the unique conditions of different production facilities. Sales at Improtech have historically been weighted towards multi-national entities and have averaged approximately $5,000,000 over the past three fiscal years. Improtech adds complementary engineering capabi- lities to those at Danmare, enhancing AGI’s ability to provide complete engineering solutions to an incre- asingly diverse customer base. Areas of expertise for Improtech include liquid ingredient handling, design of fully automated clean-in-place systems, process utilities design, commissioning of new equipment, and machine safety and guarding design. Improtech also offers turn- key solutions which include design, equipment supply, installation, and commissioning. Improtech joins Danmare, Sabe, and Mitchell Mill Sys- tems as recent additions to AGI’s growing Food platform. AGI is a leading provider of equipment solutions for agri- culture bulk commodities including seed, fertilizer, grain, and feed systems with a growing platform in providing equipment and solutions for food processing facilities. AGI has manufacturing facilities in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, South Africa and Italy and dist- ributes its product globally. Canadian wheat exports to China soar amid U.S.-China tariff dispute Canada’s wheat exports to China jum- ped nearly 200 per cent from January to November 2018 as the Asian country stop- ped buying from American farmers amid a tariff dispute. Statistics Canada data shows total Canadian wheat exports grew nearly 13 per cent during that time from about 15 million tons to roughly 17 million tons. Whe- at exports to China grew from about 436,000 tons between January and November 2017 to nearly 1.3 million tons in the same months of 2018. Data for December is not yet available. The U.S. Wheat As- sociates says on its website American farmers have been shut out of the Chinese market since March 2018 after China announced it would impose a retaliatory 25 per cent import tariff on American wheat. The group put out a state- ment in July saying the on- going trade conflict is already hurting far- mers, adding that over the past three years Chinese customers purchased an average 20 million bushels of wheat from March to June compared to no new purchases since March 2018.