WILTON, CONNECTICUT, U.S. — Louis Dreyfus Commodities LLC on Oct. 1 inaugurated a state-of-the-art grain and oilseed export elevator at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S., following construction, expansion and upgrades to the facility worth a total of $150 million.

The new elevator is designed to handle up to 5 million tonnes of grains and oilseeds annually during the first phase of its operation. These volumes are estimated to increase to more than 6 million tonnes after all planned improvements have been completed. A significant part of the products will be sourced from the farm communities immediately surrounding Baton Rouge, and the terminal will employ up to 60 staff when running at full capacity.

"Port Allen will be our flagship export facility on the Mississippi River and a major part of our North American export program, bringing local products to world markets” said Mikael Mörn, chief executive officer of Louis Dreyfus Commodities for North America, speaking at the inauguration ceremony. “We will start moving product immediately through the terminal, and are positioning ourselves to sustain and expand our leading presence within the grains and oilseeds export landscape in the U.S.”

Further improvements are planned over the next two to three years, adding highly efficient storage and inbound logistics capabilities to optimize the handling capacity and efficiency of the export operations.