CORAL GABLES, FLA. — Sucro Ltd. (Sucro) said it plans to build a new cane sugar refinery in the greater Chicago area, “to address the growing and underserved US sugar market,” marking the company’s third new plant built or announced in the past five years. 

Sucro confirmed in recent weeks its intention to build a new cane sugar refinery in Hamilton, Ont., that was announced last year. Sucro also has a refinery in Lackawanna, NY. The new Chicago area refinery will have a similar scale to the Lackawanna plant, and will have significant value-added specialty sugar capabilities, including large grain crystals used in specialty foods and confectionery, an integrated brown sugar line, specialty liquid sugar production and organic sugar refining capabilities, the company said. The new plant is expected to begin operations in 2026.  

"The US sugar market is chronically short of supply, and demand is growing,” said Jonathan Taylor, chief executive officer and founder of Sucro. “This is particularly true in specialty value-added segments like large-grain crystals. Our new Chicago refinery will add much-needed domestic refinery capacity to address the demand for refined sugar and reduce the market’s reliance on imports. The refinery’s primary focus will be higher-value specialty sugar products, which are in high demand from US food processors and manufacturers.

"Once the new Chicago refinery and the recently announced new refinery in Hamilton are complete, we believe Sucro will be responsible for adding more new capacity to the North American market than all other sugar refiners combined. Sucro is also unique in the industry as the only sugar refiner in North America to widely make available less processed, higher color refined granular sugar. This is the highest growth, most sought-after feature by our multinational customers looking for innovation and flexibility.

"The new refinery will be closely integrated with our existing production assets in western New York and Southern Ontario, leveraging the strengths and operating capabilities of a highly efficient network of facilities. The integrated nature of our production assets is designed to supply competitively priced refined cane sugar for our blue-chip customer base of multi-national food manufacturers in the Midwest.”

The Chicago refinery will have fully integrated logistics infrastructure, including inbound and outbound rail and on-road transport capabilities. It is expected to have 75 full-time equivalent manufacturing and administration positions once complete. Sucro is a minority-certified company and through its partner, Amerikoa, supports the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that sponsors veteran homeless shelters, and hires local veterans.

Sucro currently owns and operates a multi-function sugar facility (but not a refinery) in University Park, Ill., that provides liquid process, granular packaging, warehousing and other services. Products from the facility include conventional and organic sugar, brown sugar, liquid sugar, and 50-lb bag and tote packaging. The company uses third-party warehouses on both the US East and West Coasts, primarily for organic sugar distribution. A third-party liquid sugar facility in Memphis, Tenn., also comes under the Sucro umbrella.