Kraft Foods Plans Upgrades, Expansions at North American Facilities

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Food industry leader Kraft Foods Incorporated (NASDAQ:KRFT) (Northfield, Illinois) has more than $300 million on the table marked for expansions and upgrades to manufacturing facilities across the U.S., and is investing $330 million in more than a dozen capital and maintenance projects. Plans call for plant expansions, facility modernizations and upgrades, packaging line additions, and scheduled maintenance. Projects range in investment value from $1 million to $200 million. While some of the projects are still in the development phase, construction is under way at five sites, and the latest scheduled construction start date for any of the projects extends to May 2014.

One example of Kraft's planned expenditures is a project to expand the capacity of a beverage plant in Granite City, Illinois. The $40 million project entails renovations to the existing building and the addition of four new production lines.

Industrial Info's online plant database comprises more than 6,900 major operational food and beverage plants and distribution centers across North America, including 49 facilities owned by Kraft.

Industrial Info's database of active capital and maintenance expenditures in the Food and Beverage Industry across North America and the Sugar Processing Industry and Water Desalination Segment worldwide has more than 2,100 active projects with expenditures of $43.6 billion. The North American portion comes out to more than 1,400 active projects that total more than $25.2 billion.

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.