Global agribusiness company Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) has opened a new speciality feed protein production line in Tianjin, China.
The new line was part of the company’s strategy to expand downstream in the value chain, LDC said on 2 November.
Located near LDC’s existing Tianjin oilseeds crushing plant, the new line would initially focus on producing fermented soyabean meal, with a 60,000 tonnes/year production capacity, the company said.
“This development represents LDC’s first investment in a facility to produce speciality feed proteins on a commercial scale, and reflects our commitment to continued growth with China,” said James Zhou, LDC’s head of food & feed solutions and chief commercial officer.
“In addition to supporting the growth of our food & feed solutions platform, the facility enables us to supply China’s livestock and poultry industry with … speciality feed proteins.”
The facility uses fermentation technology developed by LDC’s R&D Centre in Shanghai, that uses multiple probiotic strains to break down anti-nutritional factors in soyabean meal to improve its feed protein content, palatability and digestibility.
The fermentation process includes data analytics for real-time monitoring and optimisation of key parameters such as temperature, humidity and gas concentration. AI-powered systems also forecast potential variations.
“This facility is designed for future expansion into a broader range of speciality feed ingredients that derive from a wider range of plant sources and cover more animal farming or aquaculture scenarios,” said Shengshu Huang, LDC’s chief technology officer and head of speciality feed ingredients for North Asia.
“This development will allow us to meet growing demand in China’s speciality feed protein market, projected to grow at a 7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2026 to 2030.”
LDC is a leading producer and processor of agricultural goods and is active in a wide range of sectors including: coffee; cotton; food & feed solutions; freight; global markets; grains & oilseeds; juice; rice and sugar.
