In a blow to the Port of Duluth-Superior (Twin Ports), CHS confirmed in the media that it is ceasing operations at its Superior, Wisconsin, grain terminal by the end of August 2025.

The Twin Ports CHS grain terminal was built in 1936 in Superior, Wisconsin. It is the largest grain shipper in the Superior port, handling about 60% to 70% of the port's total grain volume, according to the CHS website. There are 504 concrete silos and 15 steel tanks that make up that storage capacity.

CHS Superior has 18.5 million bushels of storage capacity and loading capacity of 80,000 bushels per hour (bph), according to Sosland Publishing's 2025 Grain & Milling Annual.

John Griffith, the Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota-based company's senior vice president of global grain marketing, told the Minnesota Star Tribune, "There's not critical mass of grain flowing through the Port of Superior, or our facility in particular, that supports the facility. There are more efficient and less expensive ways to transport grain. Shuttle trains can carry grain to deep-water facilities that can accommodate ships larger than those that travel through the locks of the Great Lakes."

In a statement provided to DTN, Duluth Seaway Port Authority said, "The CHS decision to cease operations at its Superior terminal is a disappointing blow to the Port of Duluth-Superior and the community as a whole. Most immediately, our thoughts are with the employees who will be affected by this decision. We will work with the City of Superior to seek solutions that could lead to a more positive outcome, and hopefully, continued use of this grain terminal."

Griffith told the Star Tribune that CHS has not decided what to do with the facility, but a sale of the property wasn't off the table. In fact, he said someone inquired earlier Friday about whether it was for sale.

That has actually happened before, when a shuttered elevator in the Twin Ports was sold and brought back to life. In June 2022, Elevator A, previously owned by General Mills, became the second Hansen-Mueller-owned grain complex in the Twin Ports, joining the Daisy Elevator and Elevator M complex in Superior, Wisconsin.

Grain Elevator A is 185 feet tall and has storage capacity of 3.5 million bushels. Consolidated Elevator Co. built the structure in 1908, using ceramic tile and brick to replace a wooden elevator that had previously stood on the site since 1894. It was then purchased by General Mills in 1943.

Nebraska-based Hansen-Mueller planned to bring the facility back into operation in time for the 2022 harvest season. The facility would import and export primarily small grains grown in the United States and Canada to domestic and foreign destinations, according to a June 13, 2022, press release from Duluth Seaway Port Authority.

After upgrades and general maintenance were made since that elevator was purchased, on June 6, 2023, beet-pulp pellets from Grain Elevator A were loaded on the Netherlands-bound vessel Maxima in the Duluth-Superior Harbor, a return to service for the century-old elevator that hadn't seen a ship since 2013.

"It's been a long road and it's culminating today, starting what we hope will be a very long run here of this kind of activity in the port," Josh Hansen, president of the Omaha-based grain merchants told the Minnesota Star Tribune on June 6, 2023.

Mary Kennedy can be reached at mary.kennedy@dtn.com

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