Bunge North America said it will close its oil packaging plant in Bradley, Ill.

ST. LOUIS — Bunge North America, the North American operating arm of Bunge Ltd., said it will close its oil packaging plant in Bradley, Ill. Functions performed in the adjacent administrative building such as financial and customer services, regulatory and innovation will be transferred to the company’s corporate headquarters in St. Louis. The changes are expected to occur in 18 to 24 months.

“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,” said Tim Gallagher, executive vice-president, Oilseed Value Chain. “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 U.S. packaging locations with less investment.”

Bunge employs approximately 150 at the oil packaging plant and about 60 at the administrative office. Employees not being transferred to St. Louis will be able to apply for open positions at other Bunge facilities, the company said.

In addition to Bradley, Bunge operates U.S. oil packaging facilities in Decatur, Ala.; Decatur, Ind.; Fort Worth, Texas; Kearny, N.J.; Modesto, Calif.; and Sandston, Va.