Food ingredients company Bunge North America (BNA) has decided to shut down its oil packaging unit in Bradley, Illinois, in the US.
The closure will take place in 18 to 24 months.
Besides, operations at the administrative building, adjacent to the packaging unit, will be transferred to the company's headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri.
The oil packaging unit employs 150 people and the administrative building 60. A few of these will be moved to St. Louis, while the others may apply for transfers to the company's other plants, Bunge said.
The company's other oil packaging units are in Decatur (Alabama), Decatur (Indiana), Ft. Worth (Texas), Kearny (New Jersey), Modesto (California) and Sandston (Virginia).
Bunge North America's oilseed value chain executive vice-president Tim Gallagher said: "Our team in Bradley has worked hard to make the plant as efficient as possible, but it is more than a half century old and needs significant capital investment.
"As a result of our strong productivity initiatives, we found we can continue to provide our customers with high quality products, reliable supply and strong customer service from our other US packaging locations with less investment."
Bunge operates grain elevators, oilseed processing plants, edible oil refineries and packaging facilities, and corn, wheat and rice mills in the US, Canada and Mexico.
