Sugarland, Texas & Monterrey, Mexico, March 10 - Imperial Sugar Company today announced that its Mexican joint venture, Comercializadora Santos Imperial, S. De R.L. de C.V. (CSI), has entered into a sales and marketing agreement with Grupo La Margarita, a division of Empresas Machado.
Headquartered in Mexico City, Machado owns and operates four sugar mills located throughout Mexico.
Under the terms of the agreement, CSI will market up to 130,000 tons of sugar this year throughout Mexico and the U.S. on behalf of Machado’s mills. The initial agreement will extend through the end of calendar 2009 but is renewable upon agreement by both parties. With the addition of the Machado production, combined sales and marketing volumes of sugar for CSI are projected to reach approximately 460,000 tons of sugar through year-end 2009.
“We welcome the opportunity to provide sales and marketing services to Empresas Machado, a highly regarded sugar processor,” said John C. Sheptor, president and CEO of Imperial Sugar. “Our presence in Mexico has grown considerably since we formed the CSI partnership in late 2007 with an increasing customer list which now includes major beverage, confection, dairy and baking companies. Our strategy to expand our cross-border opportunities by leveraging the strengths of both Imperial and Ingenios Santos to enhance profits is progressing nicely.”
CSI is an equally owned, joint venture that was formed by Imperial Sugar and Ingenios Santos, S.A. de C.V., to market Santos’ production in Mexico and to facilitate cross-border sugar trade under liberalized NAFTA provisions.