LDC (China) Trading Co. Ltd. announced the completion of its acquisition of Sinarmas Natural Resources Foodstuff Technology (Tianjin) Co. Ltd, which owns and operates oilseed crushing and refining facilities in the Lingang Economic Area within the Binghai New Area district of Tianjin, China. Spanning a land area of some 300,000 sq. m, the newly acquired asset 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. The transaction, which was agreed to in November 2017 but remained subject to standard closing conditions, reflects Louis Dreyfus Co.'s (LDC) confidence in China’s dynamic agricultural processing sector. The company is a major supplier of soybeans to the domestic crush industry and currently operates three soybean crushing facilities in the Hebei, Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces of China, supplying soybean meal to major and local feed mill groups that produce animal feed as well as edible oils for food companies. Gonzalo Ramírez Martiarena, chief executive officer of LDC, said, “China is a vital market for global agricultural trade and integral to LDC’s long-term growth ambitions. 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.” James Zhou, head of North Asia region at LDC added, “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. 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.”
Grain trader Louis Dreyfus has acquired a 4,000 ton daily capacity soyabean crushing facility in Tianjin, China, bringing its total crushing facility count in China to four. The acquisition of the Tianjin plant is expected to be completed by mid-2017. m and also includes daily capacity to refine 1,200 tons of vegetable oils, bottling, filling and packaging lines, and a facility for storage.