Louisiana Sugar Plant Planned

NEW YORK - Nov 1/05 - SNS -- Cargill Sugar North America and Louisiana Sugar Cane Products, Inc., (LSCPI) plan to form a joint venture to construct and operate a million-ton-per-year sugar refinery at Cargill’s Terre Haute Marine Facility in Reserve, La.

LSCPI would provide the entire raw sugar production from its 10 sugar cane mills -- about 800,000 tons per year -- to the joint venture once it becomes operational. Cargill would sell and distribute refined sugar products from the joint venture to food and beverage customers.

Ground breaking for the refinery is expected to take place in spring 2006 and production would commence by early 2008. The project is subject to completion of definitive agreements and corporate approvals by Cargill and LSCPI.

For Cargill, this would be the third marketing alliance with U.S. sugar producer groups in the past three years, but the first involving cane growers and millers. Cargill’s other U.S. sugar marketing alliances are with the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative and Wyoming Sugar Company, LLC.