The Rainbow Nation Renewable Fuels Limited (RNRF) announcement came as a welcome development for the IDZ after Rio Tinto-Alcan said last week that its planned R21-billion aluminium smelter would be delayed because of doubts over Eskom‘s ability to supply power.

Rainbow, whose head office is in Australia, said its plant – planned to be up and running by the end of next year – would process the beans to produce meal and oil. It also said it would develop capacity to process the soya bean oil into biodiesel and pharmaceutical glycerine.

The investment will create about 400 permanent jobs, and an estimated 800 during the construction phase, according to executives. A further 725 jobs will be created by manufacturing industries related to the plant.

Managing director Geoff Mordt said South African soya bean farmers, and especially existing and potential growers in the rural Eastern Cape, stood to reap enormous rewards from the business. “South African soya bean farmers and livestock industries such as poultry, pork, dairy, beef, and aquaculture producers stand to reap enormous rewards.

“The facility will consume one million tons of soya beans annually, providing a consistent local demand that South African farmers can rely on year after year,” he said.

In turn, the company would produce about 800000 tons of soya bean meal, which is used mainly by farmers as feed. “Our local facility‘s soya bean meal production will help improve the nation‘s balance of payments. South African imports of soya bean meal reached 812000 tons last year,” said Mordt.

Talks were already under way with farmers, agricultural co-operatives and emerging farmer groups to increase the local supply of soya beans, he said.

In addition, Mordt said, increasing local production of soya bean meal fell in line with the government‘s policy on food security. “Growth of the local soya bean industry will strengthen local agriculture and rural development, adding a key source of protein to the human food chain.”

Agriculture MEC Gugile Nkwinti said there was no better way to welcome RNRF‘s investment than to ensure that local farmers, in particular those in rural areas, were the primary suppliers of high-quality soya beans.

“We expect that rural-based co-operatives will sign off agreements with RNRF and therefore benefit directly from this initiative. More business opportunities are expected to emerge from the value chain activities linked to the biofuels industry,” he said.

Simpiwe Somdyala, chief executive of Asgisa Eastern Cape, said his office, RNRF and district municipalities would develop comprehensive support and mentorship programmes for emerging farmers and co-operatives.

CDC business development manager Khwezi Tiya said the project “is expected to create upstream and downstream opportunities which will mostly benefit the agricultural sector”.

In due course, Mordt said, the company would announce its empowerment partners, who would acquire 26 per cent of RNRF.