U.S. Soybean-Crushing Facilities Add Billions to Nation's Project Spending

---

Written by Eric Funderburk for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land Texas)

---

Summary

With more than $2 billion of projects at U.S. soybean-crushing plants rated as medium- or high-probability in the works, the sector is led by Illinois, where one grassroot plant presently is under construction and two others are being expanded.

---

Trade Ups & Downs

With trade relations with China, a key soybean export market for the U.S., seemingly ever-shifting and existing thin profit margins, the U.S. soybean sector has known more stable days. China at one point stopped purchasing U.S. soybeans last year, receiving no shipments in September 2025. However, discussions last year opened up stalled trade with China for U.S. agricultural products, and the Asian giant agreed to buy 12 million tons of soybeans by February this year. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested in a Fox Business interview in January that the China's U.S. soybean purchases in 2026 could be around 25 million tons.

Renewable diesel production also represents a significant, if somewhat slowing, domestic outlet. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency toward mid-year 2025 reported that more than 13 billion pounds of soybean oil were used to produce renewable diesel. That diesel requires crushing and oil production at U.S. plants, many of which are being planned, but others accounting for current construction from the ground up or as expansions to existing plants.

The Numbers

Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Food & Beverage Project Database shows more than $2 billion worth of active projects at U.S. soybean plants, accounting for activity ranging from the earliest planning stages to current construction. About $1.5 billion of U.S. plants are in an active construction phase.

Illinois, where one grassroot plant is being constructed and two existing plants are being expanded, represents the largest recipient of soybean project investment, while Dutch-French multinational Louis Dreyfus Company represents the highest-spending developer, thanks to an Ohio project.

What's Happening in Illinois?

Illinois represents the highest number of projects that are currently in the construction phase--with good reason, perhaps: Last week, the Illinois Soybean Association reported that the state was the U.S.' top producer of soybeans for the second year in a row in 2025. Illinois' 639 million bushels of soybeans produced last year compared with No. 2 Iowa's 595 million bushels.

That being the case, Illinois' soybean-processing footprint is growing. The largest undertaking is a grassroot crushing facility, construction of which kicked off last year in Putnam County, in the north of the state, by Illinois-based Marquis Incorporated. After the plant's expected 2028 completion, it will provide additional processing for 80 million bushels.

Two other plants in the state are being expanded. Agricultural giant Archer Daniels Midland and Incobrasa Industries are expanding plants in the state. The Incobrasa project in Iroquois County is expected to be completed later this year. This plant goes a step further than crushing and produces its own biodiesel. The expansion will significantly increase the plant's current processing capacity of 43 million bushels annually.

Subscribers Industrial Info's GMI Food & Beverage Project Database can learn more by viewing the related project reports for these underway Illinois projects and click here to learn more about future planned capital and maintenance projects at the state's soybean plants, including the addition of a 5-megawatt solar array at the Incobrasa plant.

Other Current Projects

One of the largest soybean-processing projects presently underway in the U.S. comes in Ohio from Louis Dreyfus. The Dutch-French Company, represents the "D" in the "ABCD" group of companies that accounts for up to 90% of the global grain trade and significant other holdings in the agricultural and food markets. The other ABCD companies include Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge and Cargill. Louis Dreyfus broke ground on an Ohio soybean-processing plant in 2024, which it is expected to complete by the end of this year, adding 1.5 tons of processing capacity and the production of significant quantities of soybean oil. Subscriber can click here to view the project report.

Other projects include one from the "B" in the ABCD group, Bunge, which in a joint venture with Chevron, is doubling capacity of its plant south Louisiana.

Key Takeaways

• Industrial Info is tracking more than $2 billion worth of active U.S. soybean-processing projects
• After at one point stopping them completely, China appears to be ramping up its U.S. soybean imports.
• Illinois leads the U.S. in current soybean-processing project activity.

---

About IIR News Intelligence
IIR News Intelligence is a trusted source of news for the industrial process and energy markets, powered by Industrial Info Resources' Global Market Intelligence (GMI).

About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 Trillion (USD).