June 1, 2010

German oilseed mill remains closed

The oilseed crushing mill in Mannheim in central Germany, owned by US agribusiness group Bunge (BG.N), remains closed after a fire on April 26.

EU rapeseed meal prices rose after the fire at the plant, which crushes about 1.1 million tonnes of oilseeds annually, mostly rapeseed.

"The company plans to rebuild the plant and retains its estimate given in early May that rebuilding work will take between 15 to 18 months, during which seed crushing for edible oil and feed meal will remain disrupted," the company's spokeswoman said.

"The company was considering using the rebuilding to expand the plant but details were not yet available," she added.