December 26, 2024

CropEnergies halts investment in UK high-protein animal feed plant

CropEnergies AG, based in Mannheim, Germany, has announced a decision to pause its planned investment in a plant to produce EnPro high-protein animal feed at the Wilton site of its subsidiary Ensus UK Ltd.

The decision comes as CropEnergies undertakes several large-scale projects requiring substantial capital investments. Following a comprehensive review of its initiatives, the company cited the challenging market environment, which has impacted profitability, as well as escalating investment costs for the EnPro project, as key factors in its decision.

Fritz Georg von Graevenitz, CEO of CropEnergies, explained the reasoning behind the move. "In addition to high inflation, particularly over the past two years, the persistently low world market price quotations for renewable ethanol and the resulting significant increase in import pressure are causing us to re-evaluate planned projects," he said.

Despite the pause, von Graevenitz emphasised the company's continued commitment to the Ensus project. "Even though we continue to support this project and remain committed to Ensus, we have to prioritise our investments due to market developments and are actively looking at how the project could be alternately financed," he added.

-      Ethanol Producer Magazine