SANTA FE, ARGENTINA — Building on its goals of product diversification and regenerative agriculture through use of rotational crops, Louis Dreyfus Co. (LDC) has started operations of a new specialized milling line at its Timbúes agro-industrial complex in Santa Fe province, Argentina, adding capacity for processing a variety of high-oil content seeds for meal and oil.
The new line allows the plant to process a wider variety of oilseed crops — such as camelina, carinata, canola and sunflower — complementing the complex’s existing soybean crushing capacity and contributing to a more efficient use of the facilities throughout the year, depending on the seasonal availability of the different crops, LDC said in its Jan. 29 announcement.
The new milling line and associated equipment allow the Timbúes plant, located on the Paraná River north of Rosario, to process up to 3,000 additional tonnes of seeds per day during off-peak seasons, alternating with its usual milling capacity of 7,000 tonnes of soybeans per day for the rest of the year, LDC said. The investment includes the installation of equipment specifically designed for the efficient processing of high-oil seeds, including five specialized presses, a rotary cooker, three vertical cookers, two impurity separators and two decanters.
“The addition of these new processing capabilities in Timbúes not only improves the operational efficiency of the complex throughout the year, but also allows us to more efficiently integrate a wider range of crops into our regional operation, strengthening a more flexible and diversified offering for both domestic and international market customers,” said Fernando Correa, regional head of Oilseeds for Southern and Western Latin America for LDC.
The meal will be used for animal feed, while the oil will be used for producing advanced biofuels, such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and hydrotreated vegetable oils (HVO), helping to reduce the gap between supply and demand and ultimately supporting customers in meeting their energy transition commitments.
As a regenerative agriculture practice, LDC said it promotes the integration of cover crops into crop rotation schemes, particularly brassicas such as camelina, which has seen steady growth in cultivated area in Argentina and the region.
Since 2023, the company has been driving this development through its camelina program in partnership with Camelina Co. (Argentina), part of the Grapevine Energy group (formerly Global Clean Energy), whose alliance is dedicated to expanding camelina cultivation in South America over the next decade.
A global merchant and processor of agricultural goods, Rotterdam, Netherlands-based LDC annually transports about 95 million tonnes of products. With operations in Argentina for over 120 years, LDC is active in cotton, grains and oilseeds with a fully integrated supply chain in the country’s main producing areas.
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