Bunge Announces Closure of Illinois Oil Packaging Plant

Bunge North America has announced the decision to close its oil packaging plant and adjacent administrative building in Bradley, Illinois within 18 to 24 months. All financial, customer service, innovation, and regulatory operations will be moved to Bunge North America’s headquarters in St. Louis.

Although much effort has been focused on making the site as efficient as possible, the site is more than 50 years old, and would need a significant injection of capital to upgrade the facilities.

Tim Gallagher, executive vice president, oilseed value chain said, “As a result of our strong productivity initiatives, we found we can continue to provide our customers with high quality products, reliable supply and strong customer service from our other U.S. packaging locations with less investment.”

The plant and administrative building collectively employ approximately 210 people. Employees not transferring to the St. Louis site will be able to apply for positions at other Bunge facilities. Bunge North America operates grain elevators, oilseed processing plants, edible oil refineries, packaging facilities, and corn, wheat and rice mills in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

The group’s other oil packaging plants are located in Decatur, Alabama, Decatur, Indiana, Ft. Worth, Texas, Kearny, New Jersey, Modesto, California, and Sandston Virginia.