Archer Daniels Midland 2009 Annual Report Download - page 4

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04
In our corn processing business, we are reducing operating costs, and we are enhancing
the value of our operations by expanding our product portfolio. Our two new co-generation
facilities will help reduce the energy costs of our operations at two large corn processing
complexes. The first plant, in Clinton, Iowa, came online in the fourth quarter, and the
second facility, in Columbus, Nebraska, is slated to begin operation later this calendar
year. We are also adding large corn dry mills adjacent to existing ADM corn wet mills.
These dry mills in Columbus, Nebraska, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, are scheduled to be
online later this calendar year and in the second half of the next calendar year, respectively,
and will leverage our existing transportation and energy infrastructure and produce
low-cost ethanol to meet the growing U.S. mandate for renewable fuels. In Decatur, Illinois,
we completed the first phase of our glycols plant that will provide yet another use for the
starch from our corn wet mill or the glycerin from our biodiesel plants. The propylene and
ethylene glycol made at this facility will be a cost-effective, direct-replacement product for
customers in a wide range of markets. And our plant to produce PHA, a renewable plastic,
is scheduled to start production later this calendar year.
In line with our strategy to diversify the crops we originate, we added sugarcane to
our feedstock base, partnering with Grupo Cabrera to construct and operate two sugar
and ethanol facilities that will serve the growing Brazilian market for these products.
Our renewable fuels research partnership with ConocoPhillips reached significant mile-
stones, and, as a result, we will soon begin construction of a pilot plant for converting corn
fiber into a biocrude product that can be processed into gasoline and a range of other
products at traditional refineries. We also advanced our efforts with Deere & Co. and
Monsanto to explore ways to sustainably harvest corn stalks, cobs and leaves for use as a
biofuel feedstock, as animal feed, and as biomass that can be burned to generate process
steam and electricity.
In our agricultural services business, we expanded our origination base and transpor-
tation network, enhancing our crop origination options and improving operating agility.
We added to our U.S. elevator operations to support expanded corn, wheat, milo, soybean
and canola origination activity. We also acquired oceangoing vessels that will allow ADM
to ship grain to ports around the world more cost-effectively.
In Hazleton, Pennsylvania, we brought on-line the first phase of a new cocoa processing
plant that will both improve the efficiency of our North American cocoa operations and
enhance our finished and semi-finished chocolate product line. In Europe, we acquired
chocolate manufacturer Schokinag, giving us access to the value-added European indus-
trial chocolate market. And in Kumasi, Ghana, we completed construction and began
ARCHER DANIEL S MIDL AND COMPANY 2009 FORM 10 - K AND LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN