Agricultural commodity merchant Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) said on Friday it will develop aquaculture and plant-based energy production as part of an industrial joint venture in China.
The partnership with Donlink Group to create a food industry park near the southern port of Nansha marks a further diversification by LDC in China after agreements last year with retail chain Luckin Coffee covering coffee roasting and juice distribution.
The Nansha project will involve a total 7 billion yuan ($1 billion) investment and is expected to lead to annual production worth some 22 billion yuan, LDC said in a statement after announcing the initiative on its Twitter account.
It did not say what share of the investment it would bear, or give a timeline for the project.
The industrial development would also involve feed protein processing and grain trading activities, LDC said.
Like other global grain merchants, the 169-year-old family group controlled by Margarita Louis-Dreyfus has been trying to develop food processing activities in response to declining margins for sourcing and shipping staple crops.
LDC also launched late last year a cost-cutting program following a drop in profit it blamed on international trade tensions and the impact of a pig disease epidemic in China.
($1 = 6.9040 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz; editing by David Evans)
