OVERLAND PARK, KAS. — Archer Daniels Midland Co. on March 10 announced it has accepted an offer from the city of North Kansas City, Mo., to purchase the property where ADM’s North Kansas City flour mill is located.

ADM said it will transfer the property to the city by Oct. 4, 2011. The North Kansas City board approved the purchase at a meeting the evening of March 9.

The flour mill has daily milling capacity of 20,000 cwts, making it the 15th largest flour mill in the United States. Additionally, the facility has 2.2 million bus of grain storage capacity.

“Following careful assessment and review of the offer presented by North Kansas City, we determined that closing this facility would allow us to improve the overall efficiency of our operations by shifting production to facilities with available capacity,” said Mark Kolkhorst, president of ADM Milling. “Additionally, ADM will expand capacity at other core milling locations to continue to strengthen its North American manufacturing base and better serve growing customer needs.”

The company did not detail its expansion plans. In May 2009, the company announced plans to add capacity to flour mills in Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Spokane, Wash. The announced additions totaled 7,500 cwts.
ADM said it is negotiating with the Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Local 218 in connection with the North Kansas City closing. The company said some of the facility’s 57 employees would be able to transfer to other ADM facilities.

“We would like to thank our North Kansas City employees for their service,” Mr. Kolkhorst said. “We are working with the union to provide severance and work-transition assistance to employees affected by the closure.”

The flour mill formerly was part of Commander Larabee Corp., acquired by ADM in 1930.

The nation’s second largest flour milling company, ADM currently operates 23 U.S. flour mills. The company’s total milling capacity is 279,400 cwts. ADM operates eight mills in Canada with a total capacity there of 86,737 cwts.

In addition to the North Kansas City mill, ADM in Missouri operates mills in St. Louis and Carthage, with a combined capacity of 25,000 cwts. In neighboring Kansas, the company operates two mills in Arkansas City and a mill in Salina, with a total capacity of 26,500 cwts.