Golden Valley, Minnesota
September 24, 2007
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The
$25 million capital improvements Syngenta just completed
at its Midwestern seed supply facilities are part of the
company's long term plan to enable select sites in key
locations to condition and ship up to 1 million more
bags of seed each. |
With more than $25 million of
capital improvements now complete at its Midwestern seed supply
facilities and significant increases in corn and soybean seed to
harvest this fall, Syngenta
has geared up for an anticipated increase in customer demand for
its Garst®, Golden Harvest® and NK® seed products for 2008
planting.
The Syngenta corn facilities expanded in time for this fall’s
seed harvest are in Phillips, Nebraska; Waterloo, Nebraska; Lone
Tree, Iowa; and Pekin, Illinois.
“This fall and winter, we will be
harvesting and conditioning record volumes of seed at some of
these locations in order to ship larger orders to more customers
in a timely manner,” said Mike Hollands, vice president of the
Syngenta corn and soybean seed supply chain, Golden Valley,
Minnesota. “The projects completed in 2007 are part of a long
term plan that will enable selected sites
to condition and ship up to 1 million bags each,” Hollands said.
With the upgrades at its soybean facilities at Jefferson, Iowa,
Tuscola, Ill., and Pekin, Ill., Syngenta has substantially
increased soybean seed capacity over last year. “We are now in
an excellent position to respond to market demands and handle
large bulk containers of soybeans, which is the way many soybean
growers now prefer to purchase their seed,” Hollands said.
The new Syngenta shipping hub at Clinton, Ill. is now fully
operational, serving growers in the eastern Corn Belt. “At
Clinton we are handling thousands of different product options
that have been custom-ordered by farmers, and we expect to ship
up to a million bags of seed from this facility for planting
next spring,” Hollands said.
Syngenta has been upgrading and expanding its seed supply system
since 2005 and has plans for additional investments over coming
years. “Our seed dealers and customers are now beginning to
experience the exciting results of the major investments
Syngenta has been making,” Hollands said. “Our product
development and supply programs are geared to rapid introduction
of new products in larger volumes. Syngenta has become a
significant choice in industry leading products, and that’s
great news for corn and soybean growers looking to increase
their productivity with new technology.”
Syngenta is a world-leading agribusiness committed to
sustainable agriculture through innovative research and
technology. The company is a leader in crop protection, and
ranks third in the high-value commercial seeds market. Sales in
2006 were approximately $8.1 billion. Syngenta employs about
21,000 people in over 90 countries. Syngenta is listed on the
Swiss stock exchange (SYNN) and in New York (SYT). |
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