CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, US — ADM is closing its flour mill in New Braunfels, Texas, US, the company has confirmed. Operations at the mill will be halted at the end of next month.

“ADM regularly reviews our global footprint to determine whether assets are best positioned to meet customer needs and advance our growth strategy,” said Dane Lisser, media relations manager at ADM. “After exploring a wide variety of alternatives, we’ve determined that our New Braunfels mill no longer aligns with our milling business’s future operational needs, and we’ve informed colleagues of our intention to permanently end production there at the end of March.”

The New Braunfels mill has 6,000 cwts of daily milling capacity, equating to 2.2% of the company’s total US milling capacity, according to the 2023 Grain & Milling Annual published by Sosland Publishing Co. Following the closing, ADM will remain the second largest US milling company with 264,500 cwts of daily capacity spread across 29 flour mills. The company also has 75,500 cwts of daily milling capacity in Canada. Located just northeast of San Antonio, Texas, US, the New Braunfels mill is one of four ADM operates in the Southwest.

Lisser said the company would be “working with customers previously supplied from New Braunfels to ensure a smooth transition as we transfer production to other mills in our network.”

While he did not disclose the number of employees at the New Braunfels mill, Lisser said the company “hopes to find opportunities in other ADM facilities for as many of them as possible.”

After the mill is closed and decommissioned, ADM plans “to dispose of the facility,” Lisser said.

ADM has closed numerous flour mills over the last several years. In addition to the impending closing at New Braunfels, the company has shuttered mills in Los Angeles, California, US; Salina, Kansas, US; Minneapolis, Minnesota, US; and Chicago, Illinois, US. Combined capacity of the mills totaled 46,100 cwts.

Flour milling at the New Braunfels site dates back to shortly after Texas gained statehood in 1845. The first mill was built in 1848, according to “Flour Milling in America,” and burned down in 1860. Mills subsequently built were destroyed by tornado and then by flood. The current mill was built in 1887 by a group including Hippolyt Dittlinger, who in 1901 assumed full ownership of the mill. The business was known as H. Dittlinger Roller Mills Co. for many years.