Cargill Starts Production at Glycerine Refinery in Frankfurt, Germany

Cargill will add value for customers across a wide range of industry sectors from food and beverage to pharmaceutical, personal care and technical applications such as polyols.

04/06/09 Cargill has started production at its new glycerine refinery in Frankfurt, Germany. Construction of the new plant, located adjacent to Cargill's existing biodiesel production facility in the Höchst Industrial Park, began in September 2008 and was completed within nine months.

The majority of the new refinery's supply of crude glycerine - a co-product of the biodiesel production process - will come from Cargill's biodiesel plant. The full integration of these facilities and the use of the latest refining technology allows for a high quality, consistent and reliable product.

In recent years there has been an increase in demand for refined glycerine. Cargill will add value for customers across a wide range of industry sectors from food and beverage to pharmaceutical, personal care and technical applications such as polyols.

"We can produce high value glycerine to individual customers' specifications," explained Jack van den Hoek, head of Cargill's biodiesel operations in Europe. "Our facilities in Frankfurt are very well located to serve the bulk of European refined glycerine demand. This refinery benefits from the scale of our biodiesel operations and meets today's stringent food safety standards."

The opening of the new refinery has created seven new positions at the Frankfurt site. Among these is the appointment of Christian Meyer, who brings 16 years of experience in the industry, as Cargill's European commercial manager for glycerine. In his new role, Meyer will be able to draw on Cargill's extensive business network to leverage synergies for customers across a variety of industry sectors.