Red Geurts, LSR General Manager

Richard “Red” Geurts, CEO and general manager for Louisiana Sugar Refining, LLC, shows his excitement as he discusses the building of the new sugar refinery in Gramercy, La. The construction of the $120 million sugar refinery in Gramercy is a three-way investment between Cargill, Imperial Sugar Company (ISC) and Sugar Growers and Refiners (SUGAR).

He is pleased to announce the building of the new sugar refinery continues to move forward at a fast pace and activity at the site has increased since LSR took over operations of the existing Imperial Sugar Company facility located on the premises and began operating as a new entity. According to Geurts, LSR spent the month of January making adjustments at the existing plant in order to begin producing sugar in February, including implementing several major changes to the former Imperial Sugar refinery.

Although the new plant is not yet complete, Geurts reports that LSR is operating portions of the new refinery that were fast-tracked to get into production as quickly as possible, such as a new bulk load out system and the ion exchange filtration system, which replaces the old process of using bone char.

LSR has also installed and begun operating its own packaging and palletizing system, producing 50-lb and Tote bags. It has already begun providing sugar to Imperial Sugar’s packaging facility located on the site since the beginning of last month. “We refer to Imperial Sugar as an ‘over-the-fence’ customer because they take sugar right out of the bulk storage system to charge their packing lines in order to produce product for the retail market,” said Geurts.

Cargill, which is the exclusive marketer of the industrial-use sugar produced by the refinery, began shipping sugar last month from the Gramercy plant to its customers.

“Automation is the biggest improvement being made at the new LSR refinery,” said Geurts. “We are leveraging automation to improve efficiencies and the operating environment that employees will be working in. This type of system will improve safety by reducing the risk of human error as well as improve product consistency and reliability.”

The new refinery is scheduled to begin commissioning early this summer and begin producing refined white sugar by August. At this point, LSR will begin shutting down portions of the old Imperial Sugar refinery. However, LSR will continue to operate the existing boilers, the cogeneration plant, the waste water treatment system and the storage area for the raw sugar.

Geurts has spent the last 40 years in agricultural processing. He began his career in the grain industry then worked in the flour milling industry, and the barley and malting industry for a time. Most recently he was with Cargill in the company’s corn refining business. He moved with his wife from North Dakota to head the building of the new refinery in Gramercy.

“I welcome the opportunity to lead the building of the LSR refinery and be part of the sugar industry,” declared Geurts. “The biggest advantage will be the diversity of the ownership base that includes the partnership between the sugar growers, Imperial Sugar and Cargill. The LSR leadership team is focused on leveraging the strengths of the three partners in making the venture a success.”

The LSR refinery will be one of the largest, if not the largest, cane sugar refinery in the U.S. when completed. The design capacity is 2 billion pounds of white sugar per year or one million tons. The plant is expected to employ approximately 190 workers.

Dense Phase System in Gramercy, La.

On the same site, ISC has partnered with Cargill, Inc. and Sugar Growers and Refiners, Inc. in their joint venture, collectively known as Louisiana Sugar Refining or LSR, to construct a new and improved refinery that will produce white refined bulk sugar, which is scheduled to start up in the summer of 2011. The new facility promises a production capacity of 150 short tons an hour and will be one of the safest and most efficient refineries in the world. This is a rate 50 percent greater than that of the former facility.

The three member companies of the joint venture recently assembled their safety experts and completed a process hazard assessment. Learnings from ISC’s project to rebuild the Port Wentworth, Georgia refinery were incorporated in the safety review. A number of risk minimizing features were added to the refinery design as a result of the assessment further enhancing the safety standards of the new refinery and ensuring the best known practices for dust safety are being utilized.

LSR will transfer refined sugar to ISC’s bulk storage area where it will be purchased by ISC for its retail packaging requirements. The existing refinery will restart production in February under LSR’s ownership and continue operating until the new refinery is capable of replacing its capacity.

ISC’s dense phase transfer system is provided by MAC Equipment. The name “dense” is derived from the way the sugar is moved in slugs in an enclosed pipe in order to prevent sugar degradation and dust concentration. Once inside the pipe, sanitized dehumidified air is utilized to “push” the sugar with pulses to the destination bin.

Other options available for the transportation of sugar include the more conventional conveyor methods of mechanical systems, which would require extensive support structures and enhanced maintenance requirements, such as the dilute phase system. The problem with these alternatives however, lies in their inability to preserve the integrity of the sugar product.

In the dilute phase for example, sugar is in suspension with the air leading to crystal degradation. Unlike the dilute phase, the dense phase system by its very design, presents minimal exposure for degradation.

This past week, employees at ISC’s Gramercy, La. refinery participated in a training class dedicated to the dense phase system. The course was facilitated by the MAC Equipment Company and provided information on the function of the equipment, including how to promptly address issues identified in the control system. David Duncan, the Gramercy plant manager, expresses his gratitude for MAC’s involvement remarking that, “They are experts in this technology and we have learned many critical operational subjects.”

While the dense phase system will be new to the Gramercy location, it is not entirely new to the Imperial Sugar Company. In fact, it has been in operation at ISC’s Port Wentworth, Ga. refinery for over a year. As Brian Harrison, Vice President for Sugar Technology notes, the dense phase system is new, and at the same time tried and true; Brian says, “The dense phase technology we have utilized in Port Wentworth is a proven technology for sugar handling.”

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal receives a New Orleans Saints hard hat from Lonnie Champagne, General Manager of Louisiana Sugar Cane Products, while speaking to more than 250 attendees at groundbreaking for the new LSR cane sugar refinery in Gramery, La. Jindal emphasized the economic development importance of the new plant to Louisiana.

The new refinery will produce a million tons of refined sugar a year, making it the largest sugar refinery in North America. It is expected to bring more than 500 construction jobs as well as new plant jobs to the Gramercy area.

The unique nature of the joint venture behind the refinery also promises to safeguard the livelihood of hundreds of Louisiana sugar farmers and strengthen the industry as a whole.

Lonnie Champagne, General Manager, Louisiana Sugar Cane Products.

The new plant will be owned operated and owned by Louisiana Sugar Refining, LLC (or LSR), a joint venture with Sugar Growers and Refiners, Inc., Cargill and Imperial Sugar Company.

Sugar Growers and Refiners represents 700 sugar cane growers and land owners, eight sugar cane mills, and more than 10,000 workers throughout 23 parishes in southern Louisiana. All total, the group provides 42 percent of the nation’s sugar cane crop.

The prosperity of sugar cane farmers is tied to fluctuations in the price of raw sugar. As part owner of the refinery, Sugar Growers and Refiners makes it possible for its members to participate in the marketing and profits of refined sugar.

“Through this joint venture, the Louisiana sugar industry takes a giant leap forward into the next generation,” said Lonnie Champagne, general manager of Sugar Growers and Refiners. “By combining our farming expertise with the refining and marketing expertise of Imperial and Cargill, our growers and mill owners will benefit from the entire sugar production process, which takes the sugar from the field to the table.”

Frank Minvielle, chairman of Sugar Growers and Refiners, said that because of the tight economic situation, the co-op was losing four to six farmers a year and that “the new refinery is a matter of survival.”

Frank Minvielle, chairman of Sugar Growers and Refiners, said, "The new refinery is a matter of survival.”

Minvielle, who also is a sugar farmer and president of Cajun Sugar Co-op, went on to explain that the lending institutions farmers rely on to get crop loans will feel more confident now that sugar growers will have the ability to participate in the price of white sugar.

In his remarks, Governor Jindal stressed this new farm-to-market vertical integration will provide a competitive advantage for Louisiana’s sugar industry. “Indeed, these are the kinds of projects that not only create good jobs for our people, but also strengthen the competitiveness of our agriculture industry.”

Alan Willits, President, Business Unit Leader, Cargill Corn Milling North America, Lonnie Champagne, General Manager, Louisiana Sugar Cane Products and John Sheptor, President and CEO of Imperial Sugar at groundbreaking of new Louisiana Sugar Refining plant.

Construction now is officially underway on the new state-of-the-art, 3,100 tons per day Louisiana Sugar Refining (or LSR) refinery at Gramercy – a joint venture with Louisiana growers and millers, Cargill and Imperial Sugar Company. The sugar cane refinery – located near both Baton Rouge and New Orleans – signifies a new era of competitive strength for the sugar cane industry in southern Louisiana and America.

For the approximately 700 Louisiana sugar growers, the sugar refinery means economic stability and teaming with reliable production, marketing and distribution partners.

For Imperial Sugar Company (NASDAQ: IPSU), the new refinery will result in the retirement of Imperial Sugar’s existing refinery built originally in 1898. Following the start up of the Louisiana Sugar Refining refinery in 2011, Imperial will own or participate in two of the most modern and safest sugar refineries in North America. Imperial Sugar’s other major sugar refining plant is located at Port Wentworth, near Savannah, Georgia.

“We at Imperial Sugar Company are particularly excited about what this new sugar refining and production plant means for southern Louisiana and the future of the sugar cane industry,” said John Sheptor, president and CEO of Imperial Sugar Company. “Work on the new refinery immediately means approximately 500 construction jobs, followed by new job opportunities for workers when the refinery opens, continuing employment for our associates at Gramercy and an expected economic boost to the region.”

Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana, speaks to more than 250 groundbreaking attendees.

Imperial Sugar’s Sheptor said construction adjacent to the existing refinery would allow LSR to take advantage of current infrastructure and operational support and promote an orderly transition from the existing refinery to the new, state-of-the-art refinery while at the same time keeping the option of running the existing refinery longer if needed.”

Alan Willits, President, Business Unit Leader, Cargill Corn Milling North America, said:

What each company brings to this alliance creates an almost perfect union. Imperial’s Gramercy site, its existing assets, infrastructure and its commitment to purchasing sugar for its on-site retail packaging business gives LSR strategic benefits and efficiencies that it would not otherwise have realized. The cane growers of this region have a 200+year heritage in growing and milling sugarcane and give LSR a sturdy foundation in this region’s rich history. But to fully participate in this industry for the next generation, they needed to take it a step further, into refining finished products and marketing them to food customers.

That’s where Cargill comes in. Cargill has been marketing to food makers for most of our 140 years. We sell flour, salt, flavorings, oils and an array of sweeteners, among many other ingredients. Adding sugar to our portfolio is a natural extension. And there’s no better place to make high quality sugar for those U.S. food manufacturers than right here in Louisiana.

Willits said the joint venture will attempt to follow a path as a good employer, a good supplier to its customers and a good corporate citizen.

When the new sugar refinery is completed in 2011, Imperial will continue to operate the small bag packing facility in Gramercy, with refined bulk sugar purchased from LSR under a long term, market-based supply agreement.

[[Show as slideshow]]

Louisiana Sugar Refinery construction at Gramercy, La.

A news and information Web site has gone online to provide a steady flow of updates on construction and other developments for the new million-ton-per-year sugar refinery at Gramercy, Louisiana.

LouisianaSugarNews.com debuted recently with an artist rendering of the Louisiana Sugar Refining (or LSR) plant plus photos and information for the news media in southern Louisiana.

The sugar refinery will be built, owned and operated by Louisiana Sugar Refining – a joint venture among Sugar Growers and Refiners, Inc., Cargill and Imperial Sugar Company. Sugar Growers and Refiners is a Louisiana cooperative representing eight sugar cane mills and more than 700 Louisiana sugar growers in Louisiana.

Cargill is an international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services, and Imperial Sugar Company, operator of the current sugar refinery at Gramercy, is America’s second largest sugar producer.

At a special February 3 groundbreaking event near the site of the new cane sugar refinery, representatives from Sugar Growers and Refiners, Cargill and Imperial Sugar will speak about how the joint venture will benefit the community. They will be joined by other local, state and congressional officials.

LouisianaSugarNews.com will provide news coverage of the event, including photos and video as will ISCNewsroom.com. The new site was developed by members of News Group Net, the team that works with ISCNewsroom.com.

Click here to access LouisianaSugarNews.com.