AUSTRALIA- Cargill will spend US$50 million in Australian operations, upgrading and expanding its Newcastle, Narrabri, and Footscray oilseed crush facilities to meet rising international demand for canola and cottonseed oil.

According to an announcement by Cargill, Australian canola is in high demand globally for its use across food products, biodiesel, and as a feedstock. 

Cargill processes over 680,000 tonnes of canola, cottonseed, sunflower seed, and soybeans annually in Australia to produce protein meal for animal feed and vegetable oil for foods such as margarine, salad dressings, and frying.

Therefore, being a key supplier of high-grade canola oil to customers in Australia and Asia, Cargill is inspired to invest in its crush capacity expansion and increase production of canola and cottonseed oil and meal. 

Cargill plays a major role in connecting farmers and customers to the food and ingredients they need,” said Zsolt Kocza, managing director of Cargill in Australia. 

Kocza also added that the expansion would connect Australian farmers to international markets, creating more demand for locally-grown canola.

Cargill’s Footscray plant will see upgrades to the processing equipment to drive logistical efficiencies and a better, more efficient customer experience while increasing its canola crush capacity. 

In Newcastle, Cargill’s facility will receive upgrades to allow the crush of cotton seed, along with the existing processing capacity of canola, increasing the plant’s total crush capacity. 

Moreover, other plant improvements in oilseed processing equipment will increase throughput, higher transport efficiencies, and improve farmer delivery experience.

Lastly, Cargill’s Narrabri plant will be a dedicated cottonseed dehulling plant. The hulls from Narrabri will cater to domestic feedstock markets and cottonseed meats will be transported to Newcastle for further processing into oil and meal.

With this investment, Cargill will not only get more international supply capacity but also the ability to supply new domestic customers with cotton seed hulls and oil. 

Cargill works on detaching from company accused of child labor 

In other news, a report by Reuters provides that Cargill will need months to fully sever ties with a U.S. company fined for hiring kids to do dangerous work cleaning meat plants.

The U.S. Department of Labor in February said Packers Sanitation Services Inc (PSSI), paid US$1.5 million in penalties for employing more than 100 teenagers in jobs at meatpacking plants in eight states. 

One of the largest penalties stemmed from PSSI’s contracts at Cargill’s plant in Dodge City, prompting the agribusiness giant to start severing ties with PSSI in March this year. 

We made the decision to terminate the agreements with PSSI,” Hans Kabat, who leads Cargill’s protein business in North America, said. “It’s really important to understand that that will take time.”

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