Ergon BioFuels to Close Miss. Plant
OAKHURST, N.J. (DTN) -- Ergon BioFuels LLC, a subsidiary of Ergon Inc., on Friday announced plans to close its 56.5-million-gallon-per-year ethanol plant in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in December.
"Ergon management has made significant investments at Ergo Biofuels over the years and had planned additional improvements to increase ethanol and corn oil yields going forward," said Kris Patrick, Ergon COO. "Unfortunately, continued erosion in margins, coupled with underperforming production equipment and the economic challenges of being a destination plant, forced us to make this very difficult decision."
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The plant was constructed in 2007 as a joint venture between Ergo Ethanol Inc. and Bunge North America Inc. The plant had previously halted production in December 2012. Ergon purchased Bunge's ownership in the facility in 2013 and restarted the plant in July 2015.
"We have a family-oriented culture and consider employees to be Ergon's most valued asset," Patrick continued. "We will work to place as many Ergon BioFuels employees as possible in our other Vicksburg and Jackson businesses."
Ergon's Vicksburg operations include Ergon Refining, Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions, Ergon Maintenance Services, Ergon Trucking, Magnolia Marine Transport Company, Ergon Marine & Industrial Supply and Ergon Biofuels.
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