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Financing Completed, Construction on Louisiana Sugar Refinery Set to Begin; Brings 500 Construction Jobs and 145 Permanent Jobs to New Orleans-Baton Rouge

The refinery will be built adjacent to Imperial's existing Gramercy facility in the Gulf Opportunity Zone, under a federally-backed and state-run program designed to help the region recover from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The refinery is expected to cost $120 million. Imperial, SUGAR, and Cargill will each contribute $30 million to fund construction of the refinery and for operations. The three will equally own the refinery.

The bonds are rated Aa3 by Moody's Investors Service on the basis of a letter of credit from Natixis, acting through its New York Branch ("Natixis" ), and were underwritten by Thornton Farish Inc. and Natixis Securities North America Inc. ING Capital LLC was Sole Lead Arranger, Sole Bookrunner and Syndication Agent. Natixis was Administrative Agent and Union Bank, N.A. was Documentation Agent. Local involvement in the financing was through First South Farm Credit.

"Construction of the refinery will begin immediately," said Lonnie Champagne, chief executive officer of SUGAR. "We expect that the new facility will be in operation early in 2011."

"Having the new facility on our Gramercy site will provide the joint venture the infrastructure and operational capabilities needed to get the new facility into production smoothly," said John Sheptor, president of Imperial. "We'll also have the flexibility of operating parts of the existing refinery during the transition."

"The new facility will be good for the long-term viability of the sugar industry," said Alan Willits, president of Cargill Corn Milling. "It links SUGAR's cooperative of growers and mills, Imperial's branded sugar marketing experience, and Cargill's marketing capabilities to serve customers and consumers."

About Sugar Growers And Refiners, Inc. (SUGAR)

SUGAR is a Louisiana marketing cooperative representing eight sugar cane mills and approximately 700 growers in the marketing of raw sugar and molasses to customers. It markets about 800,000 tons of raw sugar annually. For more information, contact Lonnie Champagne, (337) 332-3911.

About Imperial Sugar

Imperial Sugar Company is one of the largest processors and marketers of refined sugar in the United States to food manufacturers, retail grocers and foodservice distributors. The company markets products nationally under the Imperial, Dixie Crystals and Holly brands. For more information about Imperial Sugar, visit www.imperialsugar.com.

About Cargill

Cargill is an international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services. Founded in 1865, the privately held company employs 159,000 people in 68 countries. Cargill helps customers succeed through collaboration and innovation, and is committed to sharing its global knowledge and experience to help meet economic, environmental and social challenges wherever it does business. For more information, visit http://www.cargill.com.

SUGAR
Lonnie Champagne, 337-332-3911
or
Imperial
Clint Woods, 713-626-2223
or
Cargill
Nicole Reichert, 952-742-4204
nicole_reichert@cargill.com
or
ING
Elaine Clark, 646-424-7021
elaine.clark@americas.ing.com
or
Natixis
Mitch Karig, 212-891-1882
mitch.karig@us.natixis.com