June 21, 2006

Cargill launches its biggest China soybean crushing plant
 

US agribusiness giant Cargill Inc. Tuesday opened its biggest soybean crushing facility in China - also its second-largest in the world - as it capitalises on growing Chinese demand for soy products.

Local unit Cargill Investments (China) Co. launched a 5,000-tonne-a-day soybean plant in Nantong city in Jiangsu province, near Shanghai. It is Cargill's second-largest crushing plant, after the 7,000-tonne-a-day plant in Argentina, said Catherine Zhang, Cargill Investments' public relations person.

The US$60 million plant is located near the mouth of the 6,380-kilometre-long Yangtze river, on its northern banks, where soy products could be easily transported upstream from China's biggest city Shanghai to the country's central provinces.

Cargill is also targeting the markets of neighbouring countries as well.

The US-based company's annual trade with China exceeds US$3 billion.

Cargill has two existing soybean crushing plants in Dongguan city in southern Guangdong province.

Crushing soybean produces soymeal, which is used to make animal feed, and soyoil.

Cargill, along with other international agricultural product traders including ADM, Bunge and LouisDreyfus, are responsible for more than 80 percent of China's soybean imports.