Construction Underway on LSR Refinery

The first signs of construction for a new state-of-the-art cane sugar refinery in Gramercy, Louisiana, are beginning to appear as tractors clear a seven-acre parcel of land and a chain link fence goes up around the building site.

Projects E&I Manager Bob Christianson (right), and refinery manager Jack Thompson go over final plans before starting construction at site of new LSR refinery.

The new refinery, which will be funded through a three-way joint venture among Sugar Growers and Refiners, Inc., Cargill and Imperial Sugar Company, is to be located adjacent to Imperial’s existing sugar refinery in Gramercy.

Initial work on the project began November 30, almost two weeks after the venture, Louisiana Sugar Refining, LLC, closed financing agreements aggregating $145 million to provide construction and working capital financing for the project.

The project entails four distinct areas of construction:

• Process/dryer buildings occupying 35,000 square feet and where earthwork has already begun
• Raw sugar unloading station – 6,900 square feet
• Bulk sugar loading station – 2,000 square feet
• Melter station – 3,000 square feet

The construction and start-up phase of the new refinery is expected to be 18 to 24 months. An official groundbreaking ceremony and the pouring of pilings are expected to take place in January.

Once completed, the refinery will produce 1 million tons of sugar products a year, making it the largest sugar refinery in the United States.

The new Gramercy refinery follows on the heels of the rebuild of Imperial’s plant in Port Wentworth, Ga., near Savannah, and will give Imperial two of the most modern sugar refineries in the country.