SANTA ROSA, Texas (Border Report) — A group of investors is trying to reopen a sugar mill that closed due to drought and lack of water payments from Mexico.
The sugar mill in Santa Rosa — the only one in the state and one of only three in the nation — closed in February 2024, taking with it hundreds of jobs and affecting hundreds more.
The 52-year-old sugar mill, at its peak, generated $100 million annually.
However, sugar cane growers in the Rio Grande Valley say they didn’t have enough water to grow the thirsty crops. Many also depended on the water that Mexico owes the U.S., but has failed to pay.
Texas Agriculture Secretary Sid Miller says thousands of jobs could be revitalized through this deal to reopen the sugar mill.
He said three companies — Bizos Cavallo in Dallas; Vera International in Birmingham, Alabama; and Verax Commodities in Charlotte, North Carolina — will collaborate to form Santa Rosa Sugar LLC.
Tudor Ulhorn, chairman of Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers Inc., said hundreds of jobs could return under the plan, which would have the mill up and running next year.
He explained how this deal will be good for South Texas and the rest of the country. Eventually, it could also help local sugar cane growers.
“Rio Grande Valley sugar growers will not reopen as they’re just buying the assets of the company,” Ulhorn said. “What this could do is bring back sugar refining, sugar production and sugar cane to the Rio Grande Valley if all of their goals are met, which we are certainly enthusiastic about.”
Under the plan, the mill would refine commercial and retail sugar imported from outside the U.S., including powdered sugar. Should the region receive more water from Mexico under a 1944 international water treaty and recover from drought, the mill could resume processing sugar cane crops.
The deadline for Mexico to pay the 1.75 million acre-feet of water to the Rio Grande for this five-year cycle is on Oct. 25th. So far, Mexico has paid the U.S. less than half that amount.
Ulhorn says he believes long-term water solutions, such as reusing groundwater and having the Trump administration get tough on Mexico, could help growers get the water they need to restart these crops.
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