Syngenta plant in Louisiana enters busiest time of year

As farmers across the U.S. begin to plant their crops, Syngenta’s St. Gabriel, Louisiana, plant is kicking into high gear to ensure that its agri-chemical products are readily available.

“We can’t deliver on our promise to help farmers grow more if our products aren’t getting to them quickly and dependably, whether they need a couple of ounces or dozens of 900-pound bags of crop-protection products,” Site Logistics Manager Josie Anderson said on Thursday.

Employing more than 700 people, this facility mostly deals with herbicides, but also creates insecticides and seed safeners. It is the world’s largest producer of atrazine, an active ingredient in several of Syngenta’s herbicides, which are made on-site, along with more than 100 other products.

The St. Gabriel plant does not have large storage facilities, as it immediately ships most of what it makes to farmers in the U.S. – via trains and trucks – and abroad to 90 countries Syngenta serves – via the Port of New Orleans.

“Getting products out and delivered on time to different parts of the world requires careful and continuous planning,” Anderson said.