December 11, 2007

Mitsui teams with Louis Dreyfus for rapeseed crushing

Mitsui & Co. Ltd. and Mitsui & Co. (Canada) announced a joint venture with Louis Dreyfus Commodities for a rapeseed crushing business in Canada.

Louis Dreyfus will hold a 60 percent stake in the venture while Mitsui holds 40-percent ownership.

Both companies will invest around US$120 million the new rapeseed crushing plant in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada. The plant is projected to operate in the first half of 2009.

The plant will be one of the largest rapeseed crushing plants in North America, with a yearly crushing capacity of about 850,000 tonnes of rapeseed.

The plant will also manufacture about 350,000 tonnes of rapeseed oil and 500,000 tonnes of rapeseed meal a year for distribution primarily in North America.