Australians to Build Ethanol Plant in Iowa
© 2006 The Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa — An Australian company, which bought the controlling stake in an Iowa ethanol company in April, has announced plans to build a $160 million ethanol plant in Belmond, about 90 miles north of Des Moines.
Brisbane-based Global Ethanol Holdings said it has signed an agreement with local farmers to build the plant that will produce 100 million gallons of ethanol a year.
The company owns a majority stake in Midwest Grain Processors, whose shareholders approved a $100 million offer from Global Ethanol to buy 60 percent of the company.
The new ethanol plant will be a joint project of Global Ethanol, Midwest Grain and MaxYield Cooperative, a West Bend-based grain cooperative with 17 Iowa locations, which handles 73 million bushels of corn and over 7 million bushels of soybeans a year. The cooperative is a shareholder in Midwest Grain and will own a percentage of the new plant, said Dave Nelson, board chairman of Midwest Grain.
Belmond, the site of the new plant, is about 45 miles southeast of Lakota, where Global Ethanol and Midwest Grain have an ethanol plant producing 100 million gallons a year. The companies are seeking state permits to expand that plant to 200 million gallons a year, Nelson said.
___
chron.com |
