Seven Brazilian cooperatives launch soyabean crushing joint venture…
A soyabean crushing complex in Ponta Grossa, in Brazil – previously owned by global agribusiness giant Louis Dreyfus Co (LDC) – has begun operating as Campos Gerais Crushing Plant, now owned by a joint venture of seven regional agricultural cooperatives, World Grain reported.
Announced on 17 August, the partners involved in the joint venture are: Frísia Agroindustrial Cooperative; Agrária; Capal, Coasul; Integrada; Castrolanda and Bom Jesus.
The venture would be managed by Frísia, which had signed a contract with LDC in March to acquire the facility, the 19 August report said.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed in the 3 March announcement.
Located in the Brazilian state of Paraná, the complex included a grain reception, a processing and storage area with a static capacity of 300,000 tonnes; a soyabean preparation area; oil and meal extraction; degumming and packaging of lecithin; and a refinery, World Grain
wrote.
With a processing capacity of 3,400 tonnes/day, the crushing plant focused on the production of degummed soyabean oil, mainly for use in biofuel production, and soyabean meal for the domestic market and export, as well as other products such as lecithin and soyabean hulls, used in the food industry for human consumption and animal feed.
After the joint venture officially took ownership of the complex on 1 August, production started on 3 August.
Mario Dykstra, superintendent of Frísia, said the joint venture partnership demonstrated the maturity of the Paraná region’s cooperative movement.
“Seven cooperatives decided to join forces to invest in soyabean processing, adding value to the production of their members and showing that inter-cooperation is one of the most efficient ways to strengthen the cooperative movement,” Dykstra added.