Chemical Market Weekly | October 29, 2026: Dairy deep-processing projects come online in batches, overseas food processing investment picks up, 587Ah energy storage cells enter mass production

This week at a glance: Food downstream demand continued to warm up this week, with domestic dairy deep-processing projects coming online in batches — a 200,000-tonne dairy project in Jinchang was completed and put into operation, and the first phase of Miaokelanduo's original cheese industrial park in Changchun reached 30,000 tonnes of annual capacity. On the food-ingredient side, Angel Yeast invested another RMB 237 million to expand. Overseas, food processing investment picked up across Belize, India and Argentina, while Nestlé expanded its evaporated milk line in Ghana; on the new-energy side, Penghui Energy's 587Ah energy storage cells entered mass production. The expansion of food and dairy deep processing is driving supporting demand for storage tanks, mixing tanks, reactors and filling lines.

Domestic dairy: deep-processing projects come online in batches, original cheese and dairy capacity upgrade

Jinchang, Gansu: a 200,000-tonne dairy processing project is completed and put into operation. According to Gansu Xinhua Net on October 24, the dairy processing project of Youru Dairy in Jinchang's Jinchuan District has officially gone into production, with a total investment of RMB 500 million. The filling workshop plans five high-end filling machines, with the first two already in mass production. At full capacity, average annual sales revenue is expected to exceed RMB 1.5 billion, adding about 300 jobs. From milk receiving and storage to filling, dairy requires high hygiene standards for storage tanks, mixing tanks and filling equipment, so the new capacity directly drives supporting equipment procurement.

Source: Gansu Xinhua Net

Changchun, Jilin: Phase I of Miaokelanduo's original cheese industrial park, 30,000 tonnes/year, comes online. According to BoYa HeXun, Phase I of Miaokelanduo's original cheese industrial park in Changchun has officially gone into production with an annual output of 30,000 tonnes; total investment is estimated at RMB 1.26 billion, with RMB 420 million invested in the first stage. By design it consumes about 150,000 tonnes of fresh milk per year, with an expected annual output value of RMB 1.5 billion. Original cheese production involves fermentation, concentration and molding, placing high hygiene requirements on stainless steel reactors and concentration equipment.

Source: BoYa HeXun

Domestic ingredients: yeast deep processing and functional hydrolyzed sugar expansion

Yichang, Hubei: Angel Yeast plans to invest RMB 237 million in two expansion projects. According to Sina Finance on October 26, Angel Yeast plans to build a 500,000-tonne functional hydrolyzed sugar intelligent manufacturing project and a 20,000-tonne yeast protein compound production line, with investments of RMB 101.35 million and RMB 135.21 million respectively, scheduled to start in December 2026 and August 2027, with a construction period of about 11 months and expected investment returns of 13.74% and 16.55%. Yeast deep processing generally uses stainless steel reactors and fermentation support equipment, and the expansion will bring sustained equipment renewal demand.

Source: Sina Finance

Overseas food: food processing investment picks up across emerging markets

Belize: Green Valley soybean oil refinery comes online, processing about 12,000 liters per day. According to BreakingBelizeNews on October 28, the Green Valley soybean oil refinery in Spanish Lookout has officially started production with a daily processing capacity of about 12,000 liters. At full capacity it can meet about 60% of Belize's domestic cooking oil demand, significantly reducing reliance on imported cooking oil.

Source: BreakingBelizeNews

India: Khetika commissions an Rs 20 crore food processing plant in Bihar. According to ProjectsIndia, Khetika's food processing plant in Patna has officially started operations with an investment of Rs 20 crore (about RMB 17 million), covering about 35,000 square feet, mainly for processing and packaging edible oil, dairy and other foods, targeting eastern India.

Source: ProjectsIndia

Argentina: SolFrut plans to invest USD 19.5 million to expand food processing capacity. According to Infobae on October 21, SolFrut plans to invest USD 19.5 million in San Juan (USD 9.5 million for a food processing plant and USD 10 million for Phase I of pistachio processing). The company holds more than 3,000 hectares of plantations, and the expansion will cover the full chain from raw material handling to deep processing.

Source: Infobae

Overseas dairy: multinational dairy companies bet on African and South Asian capacity

Ghana: Nestlé's Tema evaporated milk line expansion is commissioned, with GHS 138 million more to double Milo capacity. According to the Presidency of the Republic of Ghana on October 28, the expansion of Nestlé Ghana's modern evaporated milk line in Tema has been officially commissioned with an investment of GHS 59 million; the company also announced an additional GHS 138 million to double Milo capacity and build another evaporated milk line, following its earlier GHS 175.4 million investment in a cereal line. The growing African dairy market is driving demand for evaporation, concentration and concentrator equipment.

Source: The Presidency of the Republic of Ghana

New-energy crossover: large-capacity energy storage cells accelerate into mass production

Quzhou, Zhejiang: Penghui Energy's 587Ah Fengpeng cells roll off the Phase II line at the zero-carbon plant. According to Tonghuashun Finance, Penghui Energy's 587Ah Fengpeng cells officially entered mass production at the Phase II zero-carbon plant in Quzhou, with line automation exceeding 95%, witnessed by CRRC Zhuzhou Institute. Large-capacity cell lines demand high homogenization in mixing, slurry preparation and injection, increasing the application of stainless steel mixing tanks in lithium battery cathode and anode slurry preparation.

Source: Tonghuashun Finance

Implications for downstream equipment demand

Judging from this week's downstream developments, food and dairy deep processing remain a steady source of equipment demand. First, expansion of original cheese and concentrated dairy categories directly drives supporting demand for storage tanks, mixing tanks, fermentation reactors, and concentration and filling systems. Second, food processing investment is heating up in emerging markets, increasing overseas opportunities for export-oriented equipment makers. Third, large-capacity energy storage cell expansion continues, and demand for hygienic mixing tanks in lithium battery slurry preparation keeps growing. Generally, dairy batching tank volume can be reserved at 1.2–1.5 times the batch capacity, while fermentation and concentration stages should be configured according to material characteristics and CIP cleaning requirements; specific parameters are recommended to be confirmed with professional suppliers.

Further reading: How to select a concentrator for the food industry? Evaporation and concentration configuration for milk, fruit juice and sugar liquor, Chemical Market Weekly, October 8, 2026 (dairy deep-processing projects come online in batches)

This article is compiled by Hyline Shengda Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (hyline.cn); all information rights belong to the original authors. The company specializes in stainless steel reactors, mixing tanks, storage tanks, dispersers, concentrators and complete chemical production lines, supporting non-standard customization.