Soybean
The facility will have a crushing capacity of 125,000 bushels of soybeans per day.
Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock. 
 
FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA, U.S. — Minnesota Soybean Processors (MnSP) and its subsidiary North Dakota Soybean Processors (NDSP) is taking steps toward construction of a $240 million soybean processing plant. The plant will be located in Spiritwood, North Dakota, U.S., and will have a crushing capacity of 125,000 bushels of soybeans per day.

The facility would produce soybean meal, refined, bleached and deodorized soybean oil and biodiesel.

North Dakota_Doug Burgum_Governor of North Dakota, Photo courtesy of North Dakota gov
Doug Burgum, governor of North Dakota. 

“The potential for this type of value-added project is great news for our farmers and the entire state of North Dakota,” said Doug Burgum, governor of North Dakota. “The NDSP plant will create value in the local community and beyond by creating 55 to 60 full-time jobs, supporting local service companies, vendors and suppliers and supporting the soybean price paid to local farmers.”

MnSP, a membership cooperative that owns and operates a soybean crush facility and biodiesel operation in Brewster, Minnesota, U.S., has selected a site on 150 acres near Spiritwood. The co-op will move forward with construction following further due diligence, necessary approvals and a successful engineering study. By selecting the Spiritwood site, MnSP is able to conduct a preliminary front-end engineering and design study, which will be used to determine feasibility of construction. MnSP is working with the North Dakota Agricultural Products Utilization Commission to complete the construction feasibility study.

“Our preliminary market analysis shows there are markets this facility would serve that would complement our current efforts at the Brewster facility to reach both global and domestic markets for meal and oil,” said Scott Austin, MnSP general manager. “We also believe that the biodiesel from this plant would serve both domestic and international markets.”

The NDSP plant will produce 900,000 tons of soybean meal annually, which is usually used as livestock feed for poultry and swine but can also be used for cattle, and 490 million pounds of oil. Half of the oil will be used to produce biodiesel, while the other half will be food-grade soybean oil. The plant will utilize steam from the nearby Spiritwood Station, a coal-fired power plant operated by Great River Energy. MnSP has been working with the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp. and meeting with the appropriate state agencies, including the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of State Tax Commissioner and Bank of North Dakota.