Cobham, United Kingdom
September 18, 2008
Cargill has inaugurated a new €65-million rapeseed crush
plant in the port of Montoir in western France. The company has
made the investment in partnership with
Sofiprotéol,
which promotes the marketing and processing of oilseeds in
France. Cargill is the majority shareholder of the Montoir
facility and will assume all managerial and operational
responsibilities.
“Cargill has significant investments in this region of France,
and the new plant complements our grain and oilseed operations
in Saint-Nazaire and Brest”, said Hervé de Praingy, head of
Cargill’s oilseed crushing and refining operations in France.
“The state-of-the-art facility will supply the food, animal feed
and biodiesel industries nationally and demonstrates the
company’s importance to French agriculture.”
The Montoir plant will process up to 600,000 metric tonnes of
rapeseed a year, increasing Cargill’s oilseed crush capacity in
France by 50 percent. The vast majority of this will be sourced
locally, providing a major new outlet for local farmers.
The rapeseed crushed will produce 250,000 metric tonnes of
rapeseed oil per year, as well as 350,000 metric tonnes of
rapeseed meal. The oil will supply the French food and biodiesel
industries, with a significant volume transferred via pipeline
to Diester Atlantique’s biodiesel production plant. The
biodiesel produced by Diester Atlantique – in which Cargill is a
minority shareholder – will help France meet the renewable fuel
obligations outlined by the French government.
The rapeseed meal will be sold to the local animal feed market,
providing an important new protein source for dairy and
livestock farmers in western France.
“Montoir is ideally located due to its proximity to rapeseed
production and also livestock and dairy farmers”, continued de
Praingy. “We also benefit from an excellent local transport
infrastructure. Much of the rapeseed and rapeseed oil will be
transported by train, water and pipeline connection, greatly
reducing the environmental footprint of this site.”
“Cargill is a food and feed company, with a biofuels component
and the new plant will be a major supplier to all three”, Greg
Page, Cargill chairman and chief executive officer, said at the
opening ceremony. “We believe that all three sectors can
co-exist under the right conditions. This investment is an
example of how we apply our global expertise to local
circumstances, helping both customers and farmers adjust and
capture opportunities in a fast-changing and often volatile
environment.”
Cargill
Cargill is an international provider of food, agricultural and
risk management products and services. With 160,000 employees in
67 countries, the company is committed to using its knowledge
and experience to collaborate with customers to help them
succeed.
Cargill in France
Cargill has been active in France since 1964 and has around
2,000 employees in 15 locations - in Saint-Nazaire, Brest,
Montoir, Paris, St-Germain-en-Laye, Le-Grand-Quevilly,
Haubourdin, Orleans, Strasbourg, Chateau-Gontier, Baupte,
La-Ferte-sous-Jouarre, Lannilis, Redon and Grasse. The company
has operations in grain and oilseed trading, oilseed crushing,
refining, bottling and hardening, malt production, poultry,
chocolate production, animal feed, starch and starch
derivatives, specialty food ingredients including flavours and
texturizers, and financial services. For more information, visit
http://www.cargill.fr
Cargill’s grain and oilseed operations in western France
Cargill processes grains and oilseeds, including sunflower
seeds, rapeseeds and soyabeans in western France. The company
also produces, imports and distributes protein to serve the
animal feed industry. Cargill now directly employs more than 200
people at its grain and oilseed plants in Montoir, Saint-Nazaire
and Brest, while providing indirect employment or support to
around 15,000 people in the region involved in local farming and
the agricultural supply chain.
The plant in Saint-Nazaire specialises in the crushing and
refining of sunflower oil, representing half of the national
sunflower crush in France. Meanwhile, Cargill’s plant in Brest
will continue to process rapeseed and soya for use in the food
and animal feed industries. With the opening of the Montoir
facility, Cargill can now annually crush a total of 1,850,000
metric tonnes of rapeseed, soya and sunflower seeds in the
region.
Cargill’s grains and oilseeds customers include vegetable oil
refiners for processed oilseeds; farmers and compound feed
manufacturers for protein meals and processors, such as dry
millers.
Sofiprotéol
Sofiprotéol was established in 1983. Its mission is to promote
the marketing and processing of oil seeds production, as well as
developing new opportunities to ensure the sustainability of the
sector in the interests of fairness and solidarity between the
players.
In addition to its financial market business, Sofiprotéol
manages sustainable investment funds intended to support the
development of businesses in the upstream and downstream of its
sector.
As part of its investor activities, and to act directly on the
structuring of the industry, Sofiprotéol operates in industrial
oilseed processing and, since 2007, in livestock nutrition and
production. |
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