Cargill strengthens China commitment with US$112m new investment in Jilin

SONGYUAN (April 23, 2019) – Cargill announced today that it will invest US$112 million to expand the capacity of its corn processing facility in Songyuan of Jilin province. This is part of its joint initiative with Songyuan government to build the Sino-US Cargill Biotech Industrial Park, featuring the Cargill Food Safety and Technology Center. Cargill will continue to invest in the park in the coming years. The move is expected to help boost local economy and strengthens local corn processing industry. 

“Cargill has made significant investments in Songyuan, which is welcomed by us,” said Mr. Wang Zilian, mayor of Songyuan Municipal Government. “I believe the new investment and projects will help boost the prosperity of local farmers and also benefit the growth of local corn processing industry.”

The park, which occupies 3.71 million square meters, is designed to facilitate both corn processing and trading, with a processing capability of up to two million tons per year by 2020. Future warehouses will be built for commodities such as corn and starches.

As one of the most important facilities in the park, the Cargill Food Safety and Technology Center will focus on testing, research and training in the area of food safety, as well as process improvement and product development for the corn processing and food ingredients industries.

Panorama of the Sino-US Cargill Biotech Industrial Park

“China is crucial market with amazing vitality. We will continue to work as partners  with China to build sustainable agriculture and invest in rural areas,” said Dave MacLennan, Cargill chairman and CEO at the foundation laying ceremony for Cargill Food Safety and Technology Center.

AIPU Food Industry Co., LTD is one of the companies that has established its presence in the park. As one of the key partners of Cargill in China, AIPU is constructing a 150,000-ton project to produce caramel pigment, leveraging products and services from Cargill and the park.

“AIPU is happy to put some of our key projects here in the park. The park provides us with resources, infrastructure and value-added services that we need. Currently, our project is proceeding smoothly,” said Michael Wei, CEO of AIPU Food Industry Co., LTD. “In the future, we will look to further our collaboration with Cargill in deep corn processing and providing more high-quality products for our customers and consumers.”

“The park welcomes companies along the corn processing and trading value chain. They will enjoy convenient services and easy access to resources at the park, including a supply chain to connect their products with domestic and overseas market. We are grateful for the ongoing support of Jilin and Songyuan governments as we continue to invest in this region, working with the government, partners and farmers to meet customer demands,” stated Jerry Liu, president of Cargill China.

Ongoing commitments to China

The Jilin Province investment further demonstrates Cargill’s growing commitment to long-term investments in China. Recently, the company announced a $40 million USD investment in Yichun of Jiangxi Province to build an animal nutrition plant with annual production capacity of 120,000 tons of premix and 60,000 tons per year of specialty animal feed.

In February 2019, Cargill also opened its first beauty care office in Shanghai supporting the APAC region. The facility includes an application laboratory to deliver nature-derived, label-friendly and highly functional ingredients to Asian personal care markets.

These early 2019 investments build on hundreds of millions the company invested in China in 2018 to expand the capacity of its starches and sweeteners, animal protein and agricultural supply chain businesses in China.

Since it started investment in mainland China in the 1980s, the company has invested around US$7.5 billion.