Agribusiness giant Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) will permanently close its soybean processing facility in Kershaw, South Carolina, later this spring as part of a sweeping cost-reduction and consolidation strategy, the company confirmed on Monday.
The decision marks a significant step in ADM’s plan, unveiled in February, to trim $500 million to $700 million in costs over the next three to five years. The company has already begun reducing its workforce and scaling down operations as part of this broader effort.
“After exploring a wide variety of alternatives, we’ve determined that our Kershaw crush plant no longer aligns with our future operational needs,” said ADM spokesperson Dane Lisser.
The closure comes as ADM continues to recover from a financial scandal in 2023 that severely impacted its stock performance. The company is now contending with additional challenges, including escalating trade tensions between the United States and major agricultural markets such as China, the world’s largest importer of soybeans.
Industry sources indicate the Kershaw site will be the first U.S. soybean processing plant to shut down following a period of rapid expansion in response to surging demand for vegetable oil from biofuel producers. That demand has recently slowed amid uncertainty surrounding U.S. biofuels policy and growing concerns over international trade disruptions.
With a daily capacity of 50,000 bushels, the Kershaw facility is ADM’s smallest among more than a dozen soybean processing plants in the U.S.
ADM did not specify how many workers would be affected but stated that it would support impacted employees with job placement assistance and severance packages. According to data from the South Carolina Department of Commerce, the plant employed between 11 and 50 workers.
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