01/21/05 Amalgamated closing one sugar plant

Amalgamated Sugar Company won't be processing sugarbeets at its Nyssa, Oregon plant this year. Amalgamated CEO Ralph Burton said 100 of the plant's 190 employees were sent home this week. Some employees will stay in Nyssa to work with growers and to continue the brown sugar operations, while another three dozen will transfer to Nampa. Burton says the grower-owned co-op had to curtail operations for several reasons. BURTON "Domestic overproduction, importation of sugar containing products, trade pressure from foreign producers and probably life style changes, diet changes." With the closure of the eastern Oregon plant, Amalgamated Sugar will continue to operate its other facilities in Nampa, Paul and Twin Falls. BURTON "Nampa can handle all of the tons that we need sliced in this valley and Mini-Cassia and Twin Falls can handle all of the slice out of that valley. We've reduced our fixed costs substantially and reducing some long haul freight that we been incurring. As we move toward 2006 we will take a look at what the demands are, the supply side, the political situation and we'll make a decision on 2006 when we get there." Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott