Preparing for Bayer Merger, Monsanto Continues with Growth Projects

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In a recent conference call regarding the company's quarterly earnings, Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) (St. Louis, Missouri) CEO Hugh Grant said that the company's pending $66 billion merger with Bayer AG (Leverkusen , Germany) was going smoothly and that its major growth project at an herbicide plant in Louisiana was progressing as planned. Industrial Info is tracking $1.28 billion of projects involving Monsanto and $1.15 billion in projects involving Bayer.

Speaking of the company's merger with Bayer, Grant said the process was on track. "Bayer's led the regulatory filing process, with support from Monsanto as appropriate, and as they indicated in their year-end earnings call, both parties are working toward closure at the end of this calendar year." The companies are expecting to conclude filing with European Union regulators this quarter.

Grant also touched on one of the company's largest growth projects: the $975 million expansion of the Monsanto's herbicides plant in Luling, Louisiana. "Shortly after we spoke back in January, we broke ground on the Luling, Louisiana, production site to make way for our first-ever dicamba production facility, expected to come online at the end of this decade," said Grant. "This plant, together with capacity being added by the industry, will be an integral part of delivering the top weed control system throughout the Americas."

The project consists of a new building, production units and utilities do support the production of dicamba used in the company's Round-up herbicides. The facility is expected to be completed in late summer 2019. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Another large project under construction by Monsanto is a $140 million grassroot cotton seed processing plant in Lubbock, Texas. The new 500,000-square-foot facility will serve as Monsanto's hub for all cotton seed operations. The project began construction in summer 2016 and is expected to be completed late this quarter. Lee Lewis Construction Incorporated (Lubbock) is acting as general contractor on the project. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

For the quarter ended March 31, Monsanto reported net income of $1.31 billion, compared to $1.06 billion in the year-prior quarter.

Among Bayer's largest agricultural projects being tracked by Industrial Info is Bayer Crop Sciences' $200 million herbicide plant addition in Theodore, Alabama, near Mobile. The facility will make the company's Liberty herbicide. CH2M Hill (Meridian, Colorado) is acting as engineering, procurement and construction firm on the project, which is expected to be completed this quarter. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

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