INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn., April 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CHS Inc. and Sunrise Ag Service Company today announced two new business arrangements intended to enhance specialty and bulk grain-handling access via the Illinois River.
CHS, a diversified energy, grains and foods company, and Sunrise Ag Service, an Illinois-based grain and agricultural supply cooperative, will establish a 50/50 limited liability partnership to build and operate a new river grain terminal at Havana, Ill. At the same time, the two companies have entered into a separate agreement with Clarkson Grain for another limited liability corporation (LLC) to manage truck-to-barge access through two belts at the Beardstown, Ill., river terminal.
"We're honored to be in partnership with Sunrise Ag Service, a co-op with a deep tradition of serving grain producers in this geography," said Rick Browne, CHS grain marketing senior vice president. "CHS has a long history of both specialty and bulk grain programs that make the most of our diverse and integrated system. Sunrise Ag Service will help us deliver even more value to all our grain customers."
"Our alliance with a global grain partner, such as CHS, connects Sunrise Ag patron-stockholders directly to the end-user through the cooperative system," said Rich Vanderpool, Sunrise Ag general manager. "Our cooperative is strategically positioned for the future to add value for our patrons through increased opportunities for specialty/bulk grain handling with experienced partners like CHS and Clarkson Grain. It is extremely important to our patrons that the local cooperative elevator system remain a viable partner in helping them explore all options for marketing their grain."
The new river terminal at Havana will bring state-of-the-art storage capacity for identity-preserved and value-added grains destined for export through the Gulf of Mexico. Plans include two 150,000-bushel storage bins and space for one-million bushel covered ground pile. The terminal will be able to unload 20 trucks per hour, dry 5,000 bushels per hour and move 40,000 bushels per hour via barge belt. It is expected to be operational for the 2007 fall harvest.
The Beardstown LLC agreement includes a long-term grain put-through arrangement for specialty-trait and bulk grain from CHS and Sunrise Ag Service, as well as new container loading/unloading services. This unique container/truck-to-barge, and vice versa, service brings much-needed bulk handling capability to this geography at a time when shipments via container are on the rise.
Sunrise Ag Service Company ( http://www.sunriseagservice.com/ ) is a locally owned, full-service agricultural cooperative serving producers in Mason, Cass and southeastern Fulton counties in Illinois.
CHS Inc. ( http://www.chsinc.com/ ), a Fortune 500 company, is owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Northwest and from the Canadian border to Texas, along with thousands of preferred stockholders. CHS provides products and services ranging from grain marketing to food processing to meet the needs of customers around the world. It also operates petroleum refineries/pipelines and, through a broad range of working partnerships, markets and distributes Cenex(R) brand energy products and renewable fuels, along with agronomic inputs and livestock feed to rural America. CHS is listed on the NASDAQ at CHSCP.
