Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for a soybean processing plant in Upper Sandusky, Ohio on June 27.

The company announced plans for the facility in October 2023. It will employ over 100 people and have annual soy crushing capacity of 1.5 million metric tons, annual edible (RBD) soybean oil production capacity of 320,000 metric tons, and annual lecithin production capacity of 7,500 metric tons.

“This strategic development will further strengthen LDC’s core merchandizing capabilities with additional capacity to originate and process US soy into value-added products – in this case edible oils and lecithin, reinforcing our position as a partner to our customers as we grow our Food & Feed Solutions business established in January,” says LDC CEO Michael Gelchie. 

The new plant also provides an option to participate in renewable energy feedstock markets and help meet growing demand for biofuels.  

“Reflecting our long-term commitment to North America as a key market for LDC, both in terms of origination and distribution, this new facility will leverage LDC’s existing regional logistics network and synergies with our other integrated oilseed processing facilities in the region: our recently-expanded crushing, biodiesel refining, and glycerin and lecithin production complex in Claypool, Ind., and our canola processing plant in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada, which we are also expanding,” says Gordon Russell, LDC’s U.S. head of grains and oilseeds.