Caramuru Alimentos, the largest Brazilian soybean processing company, raised a USD 80 million loan linked to sustainability goals to improve production, and enter new foreign markets, Reuters reported. This is the company’s first loan linked to sustainability targets and it is expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions and expand traceability.

According to Julio Costa, chief executive at Caramuru, the company, which will build a new plant for processing soybean meal in the state of Goias, will need a total investment of BRL 250 million (USD 46.8 million). The new soybean processing plant is expected to start operations next July and will have an estimated production capacity of 100,000 tonnes. Furthermore, the company is also planning an investment of BRL 75 million (USD 14.5 million) to finish a warehouse to stock 120,000 tonnes of non-GMO soybean in Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Caramuru, which already operates in Norway as a supplier to the salmon industry, intends to take advantage of this new fund to enter both Asian and Australian markets. The company is among Brazilian soy suppliers to the salmon industry that have recently implemented a 100% deforestation- and conversion-free soybean value chain.