Oxbow Crush launches, acquires soybean processing plant in Mississippi
The facility has been idle since February this year. Oxbow acquired the site from UMB Bank, which took on the asset following the bankruptcy of the former owner, Express Grain Terminals LLC.
Greg Piper, who brings more than 30 years of experience across the agricultural and energy industries, is named as Oxbow CEO and Rick Kim is the processor’s chief operating officer (COO). He has over 20 years of operational and engineering experience in processing and material handling.
Refurbishment
Oxbow is looking to modernize the Greenwood facility, to meet industry standards for safety, reliability, and efficiency, as well as building the team and restarting operations in early 2023. The revamp is aimed at boosting processing capacity along with improving the grain unloading and handling facilities.
The company said the acquisition and facility upgrade will enable it to support the growing domestic demand for renewable fuels and global demand for soybean meal (SBM), producing SBM and soybean hulls for animal feed, as well as various grades of soybean oil for food, feed, and fuel.
When fully operational, the plant will process over 20 million bushels per year.
As part of the acquisition, Oxbow also acquired an on-site biodiesel refinery but said it has no intention of operating the facility.
Investor backing
In conjunction with the acquisition, Oxbow also completed funding arrangements from a group of investors including The Energy and Minerals Group, Yorktown Energy Partners XII, LP, Solaris Energy Capital, and Thoroughbred Holdings.
“We’re extremely excited about the investment, including the opportunity to service the tremendous soybean meal demand locally as well as the soybean oil demand regionally and in the Gulf Coast renewable fuels refining market. We and our financial partners have decades of experience funding and building businesses, and strong conviction that Oxbow and this processing plant are well-positioned for success,” said Charlie Wesley, managing partner at Thoroughbred Holdings.
