United Sugars Corporation opens Chicago storage and transfer facility
Financed by American Crystal Sugar Company, the $40m facility, 45 miles west of Chicago, will be operated by USC, which will manage the sales and distribution to customers in the area.
Sweetening the deal
“Customer requirements change frequently and this facility will allow us to quickly and easily respond to their needs and avoid interruptions in supply,” said Dirk Swart, executive VP, industrial sales and marketing.
“This facility will also help meet the growing needs of our customers and affords us plenty of space to expand.”
Swart told BakeryandSnacks that USC anticipates sugar demand will continue to grow at 1-1.5% a year, as it has for the last 20 years.
Can’t do without sugar
“Sugar is incredibly important to the bakery industry because there is no real substitute for sugar. From the sweetness and mouthfeel attributes, to moisture retention, sugar is impossible to replace,” he said.
USC serves all the top ten sugar users in the US, as well as a majority of the sugar users across all categories, including bakery, confection, cereal, dairy and beverage, Swart told this site.
“The new facility helps improve reliability and it brings sugar closer to the market beyond the vagaries of rail service,” said Swart.
Sweet spot
USC, owned by the American Crystal Sugar Company, Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative and the United States Sugar Company of Clewiston, Florida, markets sugar to major US food and beverage manufacturers and retailers.
The new 20-acre facility consists of a 26,000 square-foot bulk storage dome, a 17,000 square foot transfer facility and 5,500 feet of track space. Bulk sugar is ready to ship with direct rail access.
The dome, which is 134 feet high and 183 feet wide, holds 60,000 MT or 1.3m hundredweights of sugar and enables the transfer of nearly twice that amount to many of the largest sugar users in the US.
It’s the largest freestanding sugar storage facility of its kind in the country.
