This harvest a new Glencore grain facility will open specifically handling wheat from the Ely area destined for the new Ensus bioethanol plant on Teesside.

As sole supplier to the bioethanol refinery – which takes in 1.2m tonnes/year – Glencore has been looking to source greater quantities of feed grade wheat. The Cambridgeshire area was identified as a good source for surplus grain following the closure of Syral’s Icklingham starch processing facility near Bury St Edmunds and so a strategic alliance was set up with Fengrain.

The East Anglian grain trader will be the preferred supplier to the new Ely terminal and will also contribute significant tonnages to other Glencore facilities. Glencore will gain long-term use of Fengrain’s store at Wimblington near March.