Chinatex expands its soy crushing capacity in China

With its steady takeover of existing soy plants, Chinatex Grains & Oils Import and Export Corp, a subsidiary of China National Textile Group Corp, now holds the country's third largest soy crushing capacity.

The recent takeover of the Fuhong plant, which has a daily crushing capacity of 3,000 tonnes, in the southern province of Guangdong last week boosted Chinatex's soy capacity to about 20,000 tonnes per day, the China National Grain and Oil Information Centre said in a report.

The company now ranks third in terms of total crushing capacity after Singapore-based Wilmar International and Heilongjiang Jiusan Oils and Grains Industry Corp Ltd.

Meanwhile, China Textile has also begun construction of a new soy plant in the port city of Rizhao, Shandong province. According to the company, the plant will have a daily capacity of 4,000 tonnes.

Recently, China announced that it would reject applications for new soy processing projects or project expansions in principle, in order to curb overcapacity and avoid blind competition in the industry.

Being the world's largest soy purchaser, China imported a record 41 million tonnes of the oilseed to crush into edible oil and soymeal, a feed ingredient, in the year ending September, which accounted for more than half of the global total soy trade.

Besides Chinatex, state-owned COFCO Co Ltd, the country's largest grain trader, is also expanding its oilseed business in Tianjin and Guangxi.