The facility has a daily soybean crushing capacity of 4,000 tons for the production of soybean meal and crude soybean oil, and a daily refining capacity of 1,200 tons for the production of refined edible vegetable oil, complemented by bottling, filling and packaging lines, as well as storage facilities.

Gonzalo Ramírez Martiarena, chief executive officer of Louis Dreyfus Co.

“China is a vital market for global agricultural trade and integral to LDC’s long-term growth ambitions,” said Gonzalo Ramírez Martiarena, chief executive officer of Louis Dreyfus Co. “This latest acquisition is a positive response to the Chinese government’s encouragement for more foreign direct investment in the agricultural processing sector, and fully aligned with our corporate strategy of strengthening our presence in major destination markets and bolstering our foothold in the Group’s core businesses.”

The transaction, which was agreed to in November 2017 but remained subject to standard conditions, reflects LDC’s confidence in China’s dynamic agricultural processing sector. The company is a supplier of soybeans to the domestic crush industry, and currently operates three soybean crushing facilities in Hebei, Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces, supplying soybean meal to major and local feed mill groups that produce animal feed, as well as edible oils for food companies.

James Zhou, head of North Asia region of LDC

“With our expanded oilseeds portfolio in China, we are committed to providing the domestic market with high quality products that will help to meet growing consumption, especially the demand for protein and refined oil,” said James Zhou, head of North Asia region of LDC. “As we continue to drive optimal performance across all our assets and offices with our well-honed expertise in business, risk and talent management, we look forward to partnering with local peers to create growth opportunities as well as to promote the productivity and innovation of the Chinese agricultural industry as a whole.”