Goodbye ADM, hello BioUrja: After almost 40 years, Peoria ethanol plant to change hands

PEORIA — After almost 40 years, Archer Daniels Midland Co. no longer will be the primary firm that produces ethanol in Peoria.

Instead, a Houston-based company will take over the dry-mill ethanol plant ADM has operated since 1982 at the foot of Edmund Street along the Illinois River.

BioUrja Group has agreed to purchase the ADM Peoria facility, according to a news release issued Thursday. Terms were not disclosed. The sale is expected to close in the coming weeks.

The sale spawned from a review of ADM dry-mill ethanol assets, according to Juan Luciano, the company's CEO. He said the sale allows ADM to reduce its ethanol capacity by 135 million gallons and to redeploy assets to other areas.

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BioUrja is a multi-national supplier and trader of agricultural and industrial commodities. Among them are biofuels, petroleum products and animal-feed products.

"We are enthused about the growing beverage-grade and highly-distilled industrial alcohol markets, which are the focus of the Peoria plant, and are glad to absorb supplemental fuel ethanol into our existing supply capabilities," stated Amit Bhandari, the BioUrja chairman and CEO.

ADM reconfigured the Peoria corn-processing plant about four years ago to focus less on ethanol and more on high-grade industrial and beverage alcohol. The latter categories are more profitable, according to Luciano.

"This is an opportunity for us to continue our growth in the renewables sector and participate in the global energy transition," Bhandari stated. "It’s a double bottom-line deal for us because of the strong financial performance of the plant and its contributions to our (environmental, social and governance) strategy.”

About 150 people work at the Peoria plant. The release made no mentions of additions or reductions in force.

"We know that they are excellent performers and are dedicated to ensuring the plant is run with exceptional care," stated Shek Jain, the BioUrja chief operating officer. "We are proud to include them in our team."

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ADM considered selling the Peoria plant in 2016 but pulled it off the market. It was among three dry-mill ethanol plants the Chicago-based company considered selling.

Dry corn-processing mills deliver fewer byproducts than wet mills. Those mills also can produce modified starches, high-fructose corn syrup, gluten feed and yeast, among other products. They can be sold separately, as can ethanol.

Wet milling involves steeping corn for up to 48 hours to help separate parts of kernels, according to North Dakota State University.

Since the 1840s, alcohol distilling has taken place at the Peoria ADM site. For almost 50 years from the end of Prohibition in the 1930s, Hiram Walker maintained what once was the largest liquor plant in the world. More than 1,000 people worked there.

In 1981, Hiram Walker ended its Peoria operations.