Brazil Seven Cooperatives Joint Venture Starts Soybean Crushing Plant with Daily Capacity of 3,400 Tons in August

en.Wedoany.com Reported - A soybean crushing complex in Ponta Grossa, Brazil, has been taken over by a joint venture formed by seven regional agricultural cooperatives and is now operating under the name Campos Gerais Crushing Plant. The facility, formerly owned by Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC), was acquired through a contract signed in March between Frísia Agroindustrial Cooperative and LDC, which also manages the joint venture. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The joint venture partners were announced on August 17, comprising seven cooperatives: Frísia Agroindustrial Cooperative, Agrária, Capal, Coasul, Integrada, Castrolanda, and Bom Jesus. Located in the state of Paraná, the complex covers 58.08 hectares and features grain receiving, processing, and storage areas with a static capacity of 300,000 tons, in addition to a soybean pre-treatment area, oil and meal extraction units, a lecithin degumming and packaging line, and a refinery, employing approximately 200 people.

The crushing plant has a daily capacity of 3,400 tons, primarily producing degummed soybean oil for biofuel manufacturing, as well as soybean meal for both the domestic market and export. It also produces lecithin, soybean hulls, and other products used in the food industry for human consumption and animal feed.

The joint venture officially took over the complex on August 1 and started production on August 3. Frísia's leader, Mario Dykstra, stated that this collaboration demonstrates the maturity of the cooperative movement in the Paraná region. He said: "Seven cooperatives decided to join forces to invest in soybean processing, adding value to members' production, and showing that inter-cooperative collaboration is one of the most effective ways to strengthen the cooperative movement. Frísia is proud to lead this management because it believes in this model and helped build an inter-cooperative initiative that now stands as a benchmark in the sector."