Monsanto Announces Planned Expansion at Its Roundup Facility in Luling,
Louisiana
ST. LOUIS, April 2, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Monsanto Company
(NYSE: MON) announced today its intention to make an investment of up to $196
million over the next 18 months at its glyphosate manufacturing facility in
Luling, Louisiana. The planned development will increase its global capacity
to produce Roundup and other glyphosate-based herbicides.
"Growing global adoption of our seed products, including Roundup Ready
crops, has led to increased demand for our Roundup agricultural herbicides,"
said Mark Leidy, executive vice president of manufacturing at Monsanto.
"Today's investment provides for new process improvements at our Luling
manufacturing facility, allowing us to strengthen our manufacturing position
while helping to ensure that our business is able to provide a reliable supply
of the world's leading herbicide brand, Roundup, to our customers."
Monsanto recently received authorization from the Louisiana Department of
Environmental Quality (LDEQ) on three permits which pave the way for the new
enhancements at its Luling facility. The company's investment is designed to
both expand infrastructure and front-end manufacturing capacity at the
facility.
Monsanto is focused on making improvements to the company's manufacturing
processes at Luling over the next 18 months by continuing to leverage
technology and capital improvements throughout the manufacturing process.
These improvements have the potential to increase the site's manufacturing
capacity of Roundup agricultural herbicide by approximately 20 percent once
finalized, which would increase the overall global supply of glyphosate by
more than 10 percent.
Monsanto's Luling plant expansion, which is expected to be completed in
the first half of the company's 2010 fiscal year, should add new jobs to the
New Orleans region and its economy. The project is expected to employ
approximately 30 new people directly and result in the hiring of approximately
300-350 people during the construction period at the plant.
Monsanto announces energy-reduction project planned at Luling site
In addition to the planned expansion, Monsanto announced that it will be
undertaking an energy-reduction project at its Luling facility. The company
will be implementing a hydrogen-recovery project, a step that will enable it
to reduce natural gas costs and better conserve and utilize hydrogen, a
by-product of the glyphosate manufacturing process.
The energy-reduction project is expected to allow the company to reduce
its direct or indirect greenhouse gas emissions at the facility by an
estimated 128 million pounds, or 58,000 metric tons, annually. This reduction
equates to a carbon footprint that would be generated by more than 9,000
airplane trips around the world annually.
Roundup is the largest selling herbicide brand in the world. Its active
ingredient, glyphosate, was first developed and introduced in the 1970s. The
herbicide was first marketed to farmers in 1973. Now, nearly thirty-five
years later, Roundup brand herbicides are considered the world's most
efficient and most used herbicides by farmers throughout the world.
Sales of Roundup herbicides have steadily increased since the introduction
of the first-generation of Roundup Ready crops in the 1990s. Since that time,
farmers around the world have used Monsanto's Roundup Ready technology and
glyphosate-based herbicides to adopt environmentally-friendly farming
practices like conservation tillage to preserve topsoil and reduce on-farm
costs.
Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of technology-based
solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food
quality. For more information on Monsanto, see: http://www.monsanto.com/.
Editor's Note: Roundup and Roundup Ready are registered trademarks of
Monsanto Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries. The greenhouse gas
emissions calculation referenced in this release was developed using the
carbon calculator available on www.terrapass.com/.
SOURCE Monsanto Company
Media, Danielle Jany, +1-314-694-2478, or Lori Hoag, +1-314-694-4254, or
Investors, Scarlett Lee Foster, +1-314-694-8148, all for Monsanto Company
