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Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) is building a soybean processing plant in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, US. The plant will include operations for crushing soybeans, refining vegetable oil, producing lecithin and packaging. Michael Gelchie, LDC’s CEO, said: “This strategic development will further strengthen LDC’s core merchandising 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 food and feed customers as we grow our 'Food & Feed Solutions' business established in January”. The new facility will hire over 100 employees and feature an annual soy crushing capacity of 1,500,000 metric tons, an annual edible soybean oil production capacity of 320,000 metric tons, and an annual lecithin production capacity of 7,500 metric tons. In addition, the new facility "provides an option to participate in renewable energy feedstock markets and help meet growing demand for biofuels," highlighted the company. Gordon Russell, LDC’s US head of grains and oilseeds, added: “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, Indiana, US, and our canola processing plant in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada, which we are also expanding." Construction is set to commence in early 2024.