Expanded Cargill soy crushing plant in Ohio is now operational
The upgraded facility, which came online in September, will help it meet the growing demand for soy products across food, feed, and renewable fuel markets.
The processing plant originally opened in 1978, with the refinery added a decade later. It serves as a link between soy farmers in the region and customers both nearby and around the globe.
The revamp has resulted in nearly double the previous crush capacity at the facility, providing greater market opportunities for area farmers and feed customers through creating demand for soybeans and offering greater access to soybean meal (SBM) and hulls, noted Cargill.
Additionally, customers will have an improved on-site experience, with quicker and efficient receipt of soybeans and load out products, it reported.
Justin Rismiller, US soy crush commercial leader for Cargill, remarked that the project was a complex one, as the agribusiness group continued to run the existing plant during construction: “We’ve been in business for 45 years here, and we appreciate the long-standing relationships with local farmers, food and feed customers, and the local community.”
The upgraded facility is among several North American oilseed plants Cargill is seeking to modernize.
The US currently has about 67 crushing plants with a total capacity of about two million bushels per year. But many new or expanded soybean processing facilities are scheduled to come online in the US over the next few years.
Ohio’s farmers to be spoilt for choice
Last month saw Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) announce it was to build a new soybean processing plant, also in Ohio. The facility will comprise crushing, vegetable oil refining and lecithin production and packaging capabilities.
Construction is expected to begin in early 2024. The new facility will employ over 100 people and have annual soy crushing capacity of 1,500,000 MT, and annual edible (RBD) soybean oil production capacity of 320,000 MT.
Gordon Denny, US soy industry consultant and former Bunge soybean procurement director, told us then that these expansion projects and new builds provide further evidence that soy players see ongoing profitability in this domain based on ever increasing demand for renewable diesel (RD) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
September saw the new ADM soy crushing facility in Spiritwood, North Dakota, run in collaboration with Marathon, start receiving soybeans for the first time. That facility has crush capacity of 150,000 bushels per day and will produce soybean oil as a feedstock for RD production. Marathon is responsible for delivering the oil into the fuel sector, while ADM looks after the SBM side of the partnership.
And Shell Rock Soy Processing’s new plant in Iowa became operational earlier this year; it currently crushes about 40 million bushels of soybeans annual, or 110,000 bushels daily. In addition to the soybean oil, the site generates around 900,000 tons of SBM annually, along with soy hulls. The site also produces soy oil for food, feed, or fuel use.
