With the opening of two plants in China on two consecutive days this week, Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) has increased its capacity to serve growing regional demand for value-added food ingredients and animal nutrition products.

ADM chief executive officer Juan Luciano joined government officials and representatives from Matsutani Chemical Industry Co. Ltd. for a ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 13 in the northeastern coastal city of Tianjin, China, marking the opening of a plant to produce Fibersol soluble dietary fiber. Also on Nov. 12, Luciano stood alongside officials from the eastern city of Nanjing, China, to mark the opening of a feed premix plant — ADM's third in the country.

Fibersol — sold and marketed through an ADM/Matsutani joint venture — enables food and beverage manufacturers to increase the fiber content of their products without affecting flavor, color or viscosity. With the global market for soluble dietary fiber growing at an annual rate of 13%, the Tianjin plant’s production capacity of 15,000 metric tons per year will help address food industry customers’ increasing demand.

Meanwhile, the Nanjing facility will manufacture nutritional premixes that can be added to animal rations to promote good health and optimal growth. Such premixes typically contain various vitamins and minerals, amino acids such as lysine and threonine and other ingredients.

ADM will manufacture an estimated 30,000 metric tons of premix products per year at the Nanjing facility. The company also owns premix production facilities in Tianjin and Dalian, and a fourth is currently under construction in Zhangzhou.

"As China continues transitioning from a manufacturing-driven economy to a consumption-based economy, its middle class will continue to expand, and meat consumption will continue to grow," Luciano said. “We therefore are confident that demand for the livestock feeds and feed ingredients we produce will continue to increase over the course of the next decade,” he added.

ADM began operations in China in the mid-1990s, when the company acquired an animal feed premix plant in Dalian. In recent years, ADM has grown to become one of the top exporters of agricultural products to Asia, and the company markets an extensive range of food ingredients and animal feeds and feed premixes through its network of sales offices located throughout the Asia-Pacific region.