Huge Oilseed Plant at Wagga

Riverina Oils and Bio Energy Pty Ltd (ROBE) has developed a 170,000 tonne oilseed crushing and edible oil refining plant at Wagga Wagga. The $150 million plant became fully operational in February and is expected to create around 80 direct jobs, over 500 indirect jobs and contribute significantly to the region's economy.

The state-of-the-art oilseed crushing and refining plant can crush 500 tonnes of oilseeds per day. ROBE will produce 200 tonnes of refined vegetable oil and 300 tonnes of vegetable protein meal per day for the poultry, dairy and animal feed industries.

In its early days there were plans for the plant to also produce 75 million litres of biodiesel, but biodiesel does not appear to be part of its current strategy.

The plant uses technology and equipment from Desmet Ballestra of Belgium. It can handle multiple oilseeds such as safflower, sunflower, canola and soya bean.

The NSW Government said the plant is one of the largest value added investments in the agri/food sector in regional Australia in last five years. Australia exports oilseed but imports both edible oil and protein meal. There is significant demand in Asia, particularly China and India

The plant is said to be the latest environmental plant in the world and makes maximum re-use of water.

The plant is Australia's first collaborative Indo-Chinese investment. The NSW Government provided assistance through NSW Trade & Investment's Regional Industries Investment Fund.

Wagga Wagga was chosen as the location as it is the agricultural hub of the Riverina and has a diversity of oilseed production, logistics and storage facilities, skilled labour, and is close to both Sydney and Melbourne.

The new ROBE plant at Wagga Wagga.

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