FARGO, N.D. 鈥 North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and leaders of Minnesota Soybean Processors and its subsidiary North Dakota Soybean Processors announced Tuesday (Feb. 7) that MnSP is taking steps toward construction of a $240 million soybean processing plant 鈥 the first of its kind in North Dakota 鈥 at Spiritwood.
The plant would be an integrated soybean crush facility and refinery, crushing 125,000 bushels of soybeans per day, according to a MnSP news release. It would produce soybean meal, refined, bleached and deodorized soybean oil and biodiesel.
MnSP, a membership cooperative that owns and operates a soybean crush facility and biodiesel operation in Brewster, Minn., has selected a site on 150 acres near Spiritwood, which is located in Stutsman County, east of Jamestown. The co-op would move forward with construction following further due diligence, necessary approvals and a successful engineering study.
By selecting the Spiritwood site, MnSP is able to conduct a preliminary front-end engineering and design study, which will be used to determine feasibility of construction. MnSP is working with the North Dakota Agricultural Products Utilization Commission to complete the construction feasibility study.
鈥淭he potential for this type of value-added project is great news for our farmers and the entire state of North Dakota,鈥 Burgum said in the news release. 鈥淭he NDSP plant will create value in the local community and beyond by creating 55 to 60 full-time jobs, supporting local service companies, vendors and suppliers and supporting the soybean price paid to local farmers.鈥
People are also reading…
Gov. Burgum, MnSP Board President Bruce Hill and MnSP General Manager Scott Austin made the announcement during the Northern Soybean Expo and Trade Show in Fargo, joined by North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring.
鈥淥ur preliminary market analysis shows there are markets this facility would serve that would complement our current efforts at the Brewster facility to reach both global and domestic markets for meal and oil,鈥 Austin said in the news release. 鈥淲e also believe that the biodiesel from this plant would serve both domestic and international markets.鈥
The NDSP plant would annually produce 900,000 tons of soybean meal, which is usually used as livestock feed for poultry and swine but can also be used for cattle, and 490 million pounds of oil. Half of the oil will be used to produce biodiesel, while the other half will be food-grade soybean oil.
The plant would utilize steam from the nearby Spiritwood Station, a coal-fired power plant operated by Great River Energy.
MnSP has been working with the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp. and meeting with the appropriate state agencies, including the Department of Commerce, Office of State Tax Commissioner and Bank of North Dakota.
The Jamestown Sun reported that the plant site will be south of the Dakota Spirit AgEnergy plant and adjacent to the Spiritwood Energy Park Association rail loop. Additional rail will be added to the loop to serve the soybean crushing plant.
鈥淭he planned plant would be the first in North Dakota built specifically to process soybeans,鈥 according to the Jamestown Sun. 鈥淎 canola crushing plant at Velva and a sunflower crushing plant at Enderlin have the capacity to crush soybeans, but soybeans are not the primary product of the plants.鈥
