The plant will be located in the north end at the Port of Hamilton’s Pier 15 between Wentworth Street and Sherman Avenue on lands that are owned by the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA Ports). Photo Credit: Global News.
Sucro Can Sourcing LLC recently announced that they are making an estimated $135 million investment to build Canada’s largest sugar refinery in Hamilton.
The plant will be located in the north end at the Port of Hamilton’s Pier 15 between Wentworth Street and Sherman Avenue on lands that are owned by the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA Ports).
Sucro Can is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sucro Sourcing which was established in 2014 and has reportedly “rapidly grown into the leading innovator of the North American sugar industry.”
Sucro says they have grown through “market disruption.”
The company is based in Miami but has operations in New York, Illinois, Georgia, Ontario, Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America.
Sucro already has a sugar refinery in Hamilton at Pier 10 which has operated since 2019 and produces both conventional and organic sugar.
The new facility will be a significant expansion, with the capacity to refine one million metric tonnes of sugar when complete.
The current facility is producing about 200,000 metric tonnes.
Jonathan Taylor, Founder and CEO of Sucro Sourcing said in a press release that “despite steady demand from an expanding food processing sector, overall refining in both Canada and the United States has been stagnant for years.”
He added that the demand for sugar in Ontario is growing at one of the fastest rates in North America.
“Sucro is investing to supply these growing market demands,” Taylor continued.
“We have a customer base that is loyal and growing, benefiting from the new competition we are bringing to the market.”
Ontario’s food and beverage manufacturing sector is reportedly the third largest in all of North America with revenues of over $48 billion.
The sector has 45,000 facilities in Ontario which employ over 104,800 people.
HOPA Ports President and CEO Ian Hamilton explained Sucro’s reason for choosing Pier 15 for the new refinery.
“The new refinery in the heart of southern Ontario’s food processing cluster, has access to marine, rail and highway transportation options,” he said.
“The facility’s new capacity and reliability will give Ontario food processors the confidence to invest in their own operations. For us this is a huge win: driving a resilient and efficient supply chain, growing the economy and creating jobs.”
The new plant is expected to open in 2025.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
