Cargill puts Missouri Bootheel soy-crush project on hold

Cargill has put its plans to build a new soybean-processing facility in Pemiscot County, Missouri, on hold, a Cargill representative confirmed with Biobased Diesel Daily®.

In May 2022, Cargill made public its intention to build a new soybean plant in the southeast part of the state near Hayti and Caruthersville, in an area known as the Bootheel.

Cargill said the facility would be the first of its kind for this region of the state with an annual processing capacity of 62 million bushels of soybeans.

The company originally planned to break ground in early 2023 in order to have the facility operational in 2026.

“I can confirm the project is currently on pause due to many shifting market dynamics,” Bridget Christenson, Cargill’s global media-relations director, told Biobased Diesel Daily®.

Cargill did not issue a press release on the matter.

When asked to elaborate on which specific market dynamics she was referring to, Christenson said she did not have any additional information to share.

The U.S. soybean-processing industry has been undergoing a massive expansion in recent years in order to provide feedstock for the booming domestic renewable diesel industry.

However, the weak biobased diesel volumes in U.S. EPA’s December Renewable Fuel Standard proposal for 2023-’25 have caused significant concerns from stakeholders over billions in project investments being jeopardized by the misguided plan.

The agency has been inundated with comments and requests to raise the biobased diesel volumes in its final rule, which is expected in mid-June.

Born and raised in the Bootheel, Gary Wheeler, executive director and CEO of Missouri Soybeans, said last year that Cargill’s project in southeastern Missouri is a great opportunity for Missouri soybean farmers and the local community.

Wheeler also said then that Missouri Soybeans had been working collaboratively with several partners for more than two years to help make such a project a reality.

On Cargill’s decision to pause the project, Wheeler told Biobased Diesel Daily®, “Cargill has been a steadfast partner to the Missouri soybean farmer and we’re optimistic that the company’s decision to pause construction in Pemiscot County will be short-lived. With its abundant soybean production and storage, southeast Missouri is unquestionably ripe for construction of a soybean-crush plant.”