Oleoplan today
For 45 years, Oleoplan has been active in the soybean processing industry and, in 2007, with the start of biodiesel production, it became a pioneer in the sector in Rio Grande do Sul. We currently have four biodiesel production units: in Veranópolis (Rio Grande do Sul), Iraquara (Bahia), Tomé-Açu (Pará) and Cacoal (Rondônia).
Beside the four industrial complexes, Oleoplan has a corporate office in Porto Alegre and over 20 grain storage facilities spread throughout the northeast and northwest regions of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Together, these facilities have the capacity to store over 500,000 tons of grains and form a network of support for thousands of family-farm suppliers, providing continued technical training and assistance to these farmers.
The partnership formed between Oleoplan and family farmers part of the National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture (Pronaf) has earned the company the Social Biofuel Seal. This seal confers the character of a social inclusion promoter to the biodiesel producer and was granted to Oleoplan in 2007 by the Ministry Agrarian Development (MDA). Much more than merely a promoter of environmental sustainability, biodiesel also boasts an important social contribution through the generation of income and by keeping people on farms.
Biodiesel is a renewable and biodegradable fuel that is predominantly produced from vegetable oils and animal fat. It is added to diesel to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions released in the fossil fuel combustion. Glycerin, obtained through the same process as biodiesel production, offers a wide range of applications – especially within the chemical industry – and is traded by Oleoplan both in the domestic and international markets.
Among the soybean complex products, we work with soybean meal, lecithin and hulls. They are all obtained by crushing the grain to produce the soybean oil that, in turn, is used as the main raw material for biodiesel. Additionally, we offer fertilizers and agricultural chemicals to all our soybean suppliers.
Constantly aware of market opportunities and needs, Oleoplan has been one of the most active companies in soybean regions that fall within its scope of operations, as well as the domestic biodiesel market.