Chronus To Build $1.4B Fertilizer Plant In IL

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity has confirmed that a chemical company has decided to build a $1.4 billion fertilizer plant in eastern Illinois.

Department spokesman David Roeder said Tuesday that Cronus Chemicals will build the plant just outside Tuscola. The plant will employ about 175 people. Another 2,000 temporary construction jobs are expected to be created while the plant is being built.

Roeder confirmed Cronus also plans to open a U.S. headquarters in Chicago with about 25 employees.

Construction is expected to start on the Cronus Fertilizers plant next spring and take about three years.

The company chose the site over another location in Mitchell County, Iowa. It considered sites in other states, too.

Details of any incentives that Illinois offered to Cronus weren't immediately available.