In September 2018, the Russian team of three specialists from different business units of the Sodrugestvo Group attended the USSEC’s 4th Regional Soybean Processing and Refining Conference in Amman, Jordan.
Sodrugestvo is currently Russia’s largest soybean crusher. The company’s main soybean crushing and soy oil refining operations are located in the Kaliningrad area with an annual crushing capacity of more than 2 million metric tons (MMT) of soybeans. The company manufactures a wide range of soy products: soybean meal, soybean oil, white flakes, soy protein concentrate (SPC), soy lecithin, soy molasses, and pelletized soy hulls.
Although the current import of U.S. soybeans to Russia is suspended by a temporary restriction, Russian customers from Sodrugestvo have had a positive experience with the purchase and crushing of U.S. soybeans in the past with purchases up to 0.5 MMT of U.S. soybeans per year with the last delivery was in 2016.
Ilia Bereznitckii, manager of Sodrugestvo’s soy protein concentrate plant, said the company misses crushing U.S. soybeans. He and the technical staff could clearly differentiate the superior quality of U.S. soybeans versus soybeans of other origins, based on a better efficacy of operation and the stable performance of equipment, fewer breaks and easier maintenance of equipment, higher product yields, fewer losses, and better quality of finished products. They hope that Russia will be able to restart purchases of U.S. soybeans in the future.
According to the Russian participants, the event was a good opportunity for them to acquire more knowledge in advanced soy processing and refining as well as in modern technologies and equipment.
The Russian team members were extremely pleased with the visit and thankful to USSEC for the invitation to attend the soybean processing conference in Amman. They look forward to join similar events in future.