Juan Luciano, chairman and CEO of Archer Daniels Midland Co., confirmed that the company’s soybean crushing facility in Spiritwood, North Dakota, is scheduled to come online in time for the 2023 harvest during a first quarter earnings call, held April 25.

Once fully operational, the plant will have the capacity to process 150,000 bushels per day. The facility, owned by a joint venture between ADM and Marathon Petroleum, will produce soybean oil for use as renewable diesel feedstock.

During the earnings call, Luciano said that demand for biodiesel and renewable diesel is robust, driving strong gross margins. That strong biofuel demand and expected growth in the biomass-based diesel industry supports ADM’s investment in the Spiritwood facility, he said.

According to Luciano, U.S. biodiesel production was up 8 percent during the first quarter of 2023, while renewable diesel production was up more than 60 percent when compared to the same period of 2022. Vikram Luthar, chief financial officer at ADM, estimated that approximately 1 billion gallons of additional renewable diesel capacity is expected to come online this year, noting that the company is confident about future growth in renewable diesel capacity and the associated ongoing benefit and impact for crush margins moving forward.