Oilseeds

Louis Dreyfus Company is a dominant player in oilseeds with a strong international presence in the world’s major producing and consuming regions. We originate, handle, store, transform and merchandize a large spectrum of oilseeds products.

Oilseeds highlights

We have a solid reputation built on extensive experience reaching back to the 19th century.

We export and distribute to more than 40 major destinations across the world.

We own, manage and operate strategic assets at key points of the value chain.

We have outstanding risk management tools and practices, combined with best-in-class merchandizing and research skills.

About oilseeds

The oilseeds complex includes a wide spectrum of products and by-products. Louis Dreyfus Company today originates, handles, stores, transforms and merchandizes: soybeans, soybean meal, soybean oil (crude and refined), soy-methyl-ester and rape-methyl-ester, rapeseeds canola, rapeseed/canola meal, rapeseed/canola oil (crude and refined), sunflower oil, cottonseed oil, cottonseed meal, palm oil (crude and refined), olein, stearin, vanaspati and lecithin.

Most oilseeds are crushed to produce value-added protein meals and vegetable oils.

Oilseeds meals are predominantly used in the animal feed industry as a protein ingredient. Soybean meal is the world’s largest source of meal protein, accounting for more than 80% of the total.

Palm and soybeans are the most important sources of vegetable oil. They are mainly used for human food consumption, in food processing and as cooking oils. Industrial applications include use in plastics, cosmetics and paints as well as energy (biodiesel).

Our strengths in Oilseeds

The Oilseeds Platform owes its success to its spirit of entrepreneurship, its meticulous market analysis and the integration of activities along the value chain. These three factors combined have yielded consistent growth and outstanding results.

Our ongoing strategy is driven by combining key assets, deep origination and distribution routes, and access to the relevant flows.

As we continue to extend our market reach, we focus on consolidating our historical strengths, accelerating our growth and footprint expansion in the Asian and African markets and diversifying our activities.

We continually invest in new assets and optimize existing resources to stay ahead of demand trends. Our most recent investments include the following:

Expanded our distribution and logistics network at key destinations, with new port facilities in Indonesia, the US and Kenya
Developed South American processing with investment in a cottonseed crushing plant in Brazil, a soybean crushing plant in Paraguay and a biodiesel plant in Argentina

Sustainability story

Biodiesel production

Louis Dreyfus Company in Argentina is certified for sustainable soybean production

Read the full story

Since 2011, our General Lagos plant in Argentina has been certified for sustainable soybean production. Certification has enabled an increasing supply of biodiesel to customers who put sustainability at the center of their purchasing decisions. Initially certified under the French scheme, 2BSvs, the plant is now working towards certification under the CARBIO Sustainability Certification Scheme (CSCS). This is a scheme developed in Argentina to ensure compliance with European Union and US standards for sustainable soybean biodiesel production. CSCS covers all of the soybean biodiesel production chain, from soybean production to biodiesel factories and transportation. While certification has opened up new opportunities with customers, it has also helped the plant deliver in five other areas: agricultural good practice, environmental responsibility, community relationships, legal compliance and good business practice.