GUANGZHOU, CHINA — Louis Dreyfus Company BV (LDC) announced that it recently began operating its joint Rongchuan aquatic feed facility with Guangdong HAID Group in Tianjin, China. The new facility is now the biggest aquatic feed mill in North China, with annual feed production capacity of 200,000 tonnes.

LDC and Guandong HAID signed a partnership agreement in December 2018 to build the mill, which produces high-end aquatic feeds, including prawn feeds, as well as fermented soybean meal.

Construction work on the mill began in May 2019. The facility is situated on a 53,000-square-meter plot of land and strategically located at the center of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei economic zone. It originally was expected to open by mid-2020.

LDC also announced that its joint project with River and Ocean Cereals and Oils Jiangsu (ROCO) Group on July 15 broke ground toward the construction of an additional oilseeds crushing plant near LDC’s existing facility in Zhangjiagang, China.

Located in the Gangcheng Food Industrial Park, LDC said the new facility will double its capacity to supply soybean meal and refined vegetable oils to eastern China, bringing daily soy crushing capacity to 4,000 tons, and daily refining capacity to 1,200 tons. Production is expected to begin at the end of 2022.

LDC said the two important milestones represent “new, positive strides in our strategic roadmap to move further downstream in grains and oilseeds value chains, and diversify into more value-added products, as we grow with China.”

“Our new facilities demonstrate our commitment to meeting Chinese consumers’ evolving needs and growing demand for high-quality proteins, leveraging synergies with our existing capabilities in the country and working hand-in-hand with our trusted partners to maximize shared value creation through complementary expertise,” said Jerrity Chen, head of North Asia and regional head of Grains & Oilseeds.