One of the largest U.S. biodiesel refineries is on line in Iowa Falls, Iowa. Owned by multinational agribusiness leader Cargill Inc., the 37.5 MMgy facility officially began biodiesel production in May, said David Feider, spokesman for Cargill's Grain & Oilseed Supply-North America business unit.

"We started production on May 15-that was a Monday, and we were prepared to transport our first railcar shipment that Friday," Feider told Biodiesel Magazine.

The newly built plant, constructed and designed by Lurgi PSI Inc., compliments Cargill's pre-existing soybean crush facility, which is adjacent to the refinery and provides the biodiesel plant with its feedstock.

Cargill also added a glycerin refinery on-site, which will purify the company's byproduct to meet United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) standards, or pharmaceutical-grade glycerin. According to Feider, Cargill is marketing its own USP-grade glycerin and biodiesel. BQ-9000 certification is in progress.

Cargill announced May 30 that it was building a new soybean processing facility in Kansas City, Mo., to replace its existing, yet aged, plant there. Construction is expected to begin this summer with completion of the processing center slated for first quarter 2008. The new facility will boost the company's existing processing capacity of 95,000 bushels per day to 165,000 bushels per day.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, at one of Cargill's existing sites in Port of Montoir, France, the company is preparing to build a new rapeseed crush plant, which will send oil via pipeline to Cargill's strategic partner Diester Industries for biodiesel production.