USSEC consultant Pedro Gonzalez traveled to Santiago, Chile to escort a team of five customers of U.S. soybean crushers and soybean oil refineries from the Americas Region to attend the XV Latin American Congress and Exhibition on Fats and Oils organized by the American Oil Chemists Society (AOCS) that took place on August 20 - 23, 2013.  The team was comprised of three plant managers of integrated operations of soybean crushers and refineries from Mexico, one plant manager from Costa Rica and a plant engineer of a soybean oil refinery in the Dominican Republic.  This event provided updates on the most recent developments in the field of fats and oils and gave participants the opportunity to meet with experts from all over the world to learn and discuss the latest research in processing, innovation and applications.

This Congress was a scientific and technical event attended by the most important companies processing oilseeds and refining oils in Latin America.  Suppliers of processing equipment, ingredients and enzymes exhibited their advances in their respective fields.  Team members processing U.S. soybeans and soybean oil discussed new technologies that save energy in the plants, use sustainable processing operations, improve extraction yields of soybean oil, and achieve cost reductions in processing and refining.  Participants also had the opportunity to exchange knowledge with colleagues from other countries and felt that the Congress was a valuable experience that will improve the quality of their products and the profitability of their businesses.