Explosion At ADM Grain Elevator

A grain elevator that ships millions of tonnes of U.S. corn and soybeans from the Mississippi Gulf each year reported an explosion and fire Thursday, emergency officials said.

The explosion happened about 1:30 a.m. CDT (0630 GMT) at an elevator owned by Archer Daniels Midland Co in Destrehan, Louisiana. No one was injured, officials added.

The explosion was caused by grain dust, although what ignited the volatile particles was not known, officials said.

An company spokesman said ADM was still assessing the damage late Thursday.

ADM has four elevators in Louisiana that export grain from the Mississippi Gulf, located at Destrehan, Ama, Reserve and Paulina.

Destrehan is the largest of the four facilities with a storage capacity of 6.4 million bushels (163,400 tonnes) and an hourly loading capacity of 75,000 bushels (1,900 tonnes). The elevator ships soybeans, corn, wheat and soybean meal.