USA — American grain, feed, and food ingredient supplier Scoular is strengthening its US grain handling with the addition of two facilities in Florida.
The new assets were acquired from Columbia Grain & Ingredients and will be used by Scoular to serve grain and livestock producers in the Southeast US.
The facilities acquired for an undisclosed sum include feed ingredient and grain handling facilities, storage space, and a feed mill.
“This transaction is critical to better serving our feed and grain customers in the region,” said Eric Perry, vice president and general manager of Scoular’s Feed Division.
“This investment expands our network, product portfolio and transportation presence in the region, demonstrating our commitment to providing high-quality ingredients and services to our customers.”
The facilities, located in northern Florida, will provide upright storage space of close to 600,000 bushels and flat storage of over 10,000 tons, which will be used primarily to handle corn, bulk ingredients and micro-ingredients.
Scoular revealed that the facilities are capable of loading and unloading trucks, as well as railcars, with the Lake City site able to handle 135 railcars.
They will be able to enable Scoular to provide just-in-time delivery and strengthen its existing grain and ingredient businesses in the Southeast.
The purchase, which also will enable Scoular to add micro-ingredient blending to its services in the region, will include Columbia’s transportation fleet and team.
Earlier, Scoular opened a new facility in Thilawa, Myanmar in an effort to expand its global fishmeal operations.
Scoular said the facility will provide a hub for high-quality, consistent products and just-in-time shipment to Asian feed markets.
The opening follows Scoular’s launch in September of Encompass, the new brand for Scoular’s growing global fishmeal business, which it has been part of for more than 20 years.
Meanwhile, Gerald Grain Center Inc announced that it is upgrading its grain receiving operations with a US$6 million project at its Hamler, Ohio, US, location.
The project will double the location’s pit receiving capacity to 32,000 bushels per hour, said Clark Carroll, general manager of Gerald Grain.
The facility’s silos will receive new liners, the rail house will get new concrete and new overhead conveyors will be installed, replacing some that are 30 to 40 years old.
The project also will upgrade the electrical system throughout the facility to improve safety.
The upgrades should be completed by Sept. 1, in time for the fall corn and soybean harvest, Carroll said.
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