Cargill Inc. has been forced to declare “force majeure” on some of its corn syrup contracts after its corn-milling plant at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, had to shut down following the floods in the Midwest.
The food and agribusiness group said the closure of the plant was a temporary measure but
was unavoidable.
“This means that Cargill will not be able to meet all of its customers’ contracted volumes, and supply of corn syrup from Cargill will be limited until further notice,” the company said in a statement.
Force majeure clauses are invoked when companies are hit by circumstances beyond their control, such as natural disasters, and provide a means of exemption from contractual obligations.
However, Cargill said that the floods had not hit its high corn fructose syrup (HCFS) production, so force majeure did not extend to its contracts for HCFS.
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