Flint Hills Resources Continues Expansion into Biofuel Business, Acquires Minnesota Ethanol Plant

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Flint Hills Resources LP (Wichita, Kansas), a subsidiary of privately held Koch Industries Incorporated (Wichita), continues its expansion into biofuels as the company recently acquired a 115 million-gallon-per-year corn-based fuel ethanol plant formally owned by Advanced BioEnergy LLC (Bloomington, Minnesota) in Fairmont, Nebraska.

With the acquisition, Flint Hills now has the capacity to produce 555 million gallons per year of fuel ethanol and 50 million gallons per year of biodiesel at a plant in Beatrice, Nebraska. The company's ethanol plants are located in Iowa Falls, Fairbank, Menlo and Shell Rock, Iowa, and one plant is now in Fairmont.

A purchase price was not disclosed; however, the cost to build the plant was well over $200 million when it was constructed back in 2007. The plant also produces 320,000 tons per year of dried distillers grains and 18 million pounds of corn oil per year.

Flint Hills is also making investments in its refining and chemicals division, with some $575 in capital and maintenance projects through the end of 2013.

The company is planning a large, $300 million crude unit project at the Corpus Christi refinery, as well as a $50 million crude unit revamp and a $20 million cat cracker upgrade. An additional $120 million worth of work is planned at the company's refinery in Rosemount, Minnesota.

Additional work is planned for petroleum terminals in Iowa, Texas, Wisconsin and Illinois.

Industrial Info's databases provide a comprehensive outline of all current development activities in the emerging alternative fuels market. Our North American Biodiesel Database covers 136 operational plants and 90 plants in development. Our North American Ethanol Database covers 214 plants in operation and 138 plants in various development phases. Our North American Wood Fuel Pellet Database includes 63 operational plants producing more than 25,000 tons annually, and 38 projects in progress.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.