TIANJIN, CHINA — Louis Dreyfus Co. (LDC) celebrated the groundbreaking for a new specialty feed production line in Tianjin, China.

It will focus on production of fermented soybean meal, expanding LDC’s presence in China’s feed protein market that is expected to grow at a 7% compound annual growth rate.

The facility will be located on an 11,000 square meter plot of land near LDC’s existing oilseed crushing plant. The Tianjin facility opened in 2018 with the capacity to crush 4,000 tonnes of soybeans per day and a daily oil refining capacity of 1,200 tonnes.

The new facility will use a technology that enhances feed protein content, palatability and digestibility through fermentation by multiple probiotic strains.

“Through this investment, we aim to provide the local livestock and poultry farming industry with high-quality specialty feed proteins that can contribute to more efficient livestock farming, by helping to improve the health status and growth rate of several animal species,” said Shengshu Huang, LDC’s chief technology officer for animal nutrition in North Asia.