The (), based in
Decatur, Illinois , operates more than 270 plants worldwide, where
Cereal grains and
Oilseed s are processed into numerous products used in
Food ,
Beverage ,
Nutraceutical ,
Industrial and
Animal Feed markets worldwide.
ADM also provides , ADM Corn Processing, ADM
Food Additives , ADM
Lecithin , ADM
Milling , ADM
Monoglycerides , ADM
Vitamin E , ADM
Protein Specialties, ADM Food Oils. The
American River Transportation Company is a subsidiary of ADM. ADM's
Revenue s for fiscal 2003 (ending June 30, 2003) were
US $30.708 B.
Typical products include
Oil s and
Meal from
Soybean s,
Cottonseed ,
Sunflower seeds,
Canola ,
Peanut s,
Flaxseed and
Corn Germ ,
Syrup ,
Starch ,
Glucose ,
Dextrose , crystalline dextrose, high-
Fructose Sweetener s,
Ethyl Alcohol , and
Wheat Flour . End uses are consumption by people and
Livestock , and
Fuel additives.
In 1902,
George A. Archer and
John W. Daniels began a linseed crushing business. In 1923, Archer-Daniels Linseed Company acquired Midland Linseed Products Company, and the Archer-Daniels-Midland Company was formed. Every decade since its corporate inception, ADM has added at least one major profit center to its agribusiness: milling, processing, specialty feed ingredients, specialty food ingredients, cocoa, nutrition, and more.
ADM is also a huge recipient of federal
Agribusiness Subsidies . According to
Libertarian Think Tank the
Cato Institute , "ADM has cost the American economy billions of dollars since 1980 and has indirectly cost Americans tens of billions of dollars in higher prices and higher taxes over that same period. At least 43 percent of ADM's annual profits are from products heavily subsidized or protected by the American government. Moreover, every $1 of profits earned by ADM's corn sweetener operation costs consumers $10, and every $1 of profits earned by its
Ethanol operation costs taxpayers $30."
In
1996 , ADM was the subject of the largest
Price Fixing investigation in history. Senior ADM executives were indicted on criminal charges for engaging in price-fixing with in the international
Lysine market. Three of ADM's top officials, including vice chairman Michael Andreas, were sentenced to federal prison in
1999 and the company was fined $100 million, the largest
Antitrust fine ever. ADM's annual report 2005 states that a settlement was reached under which ADM paid $400 million in 2005 to settle a class action antitrust suit (note 15, p. 52).
Kurt Eichenwald wrote a non-fiction book ''
The Informant '' describing the ADM price fixing investigation.
