ADM and South Korea's CJ CheilJedang have agreed to form a joint venture that will hold exclusive rights to manufacture and sell feed-grade amino acids across the Americas, combining three fermentation plants on two continents in a deal aimed at securing U.S. lysine supply.

The venture brings together CJ's fermentation facilities in Fort Dodge, Iowa, and Piracicaba, Brazil, with ADM's feed-grade amino acid plant in Decatur, Ill. CJ's sales offices in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil also fold into the new company, along with a license to CJ's intellectual property covering feed-grade amino acids for use in North and South America. CJ will be the majority owner.

The deal lands amid mounting pressure on domestic amino acid production. Kris Lutt, ADM vice president of innovation and growth, tied the transaction directly to trade policy.

"Customers know that challenging global market conditions are putting continued U.S. domestic production of feed-grade amino acids, particularly lysine, at risk," Lutt said. "This joint venture will strengthen U.S. production, creating a more reliable U.S. source of supply by bringing together the right assets, products and capabilities to support continued production in a highly competitive environment."

Lutt pointed to recent decisions by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission to eliminate what he called unfair trade practices affecting U.S. imports of lysine from China as added confidence in the move. He said ADM will keep using its global fermentation capacity to meet customer needs and as a growth platform for precision fermentation serving food, feed and industrial markets.

Lance Haeryong Choi, senior vice president of CJ CheilJedang, framed the combination as a play on cost position and supply stability. "By combining CJ's industry-leading fermentation technology to produce amino acids for animal nutrition and technical marketing with ADM's U.S. manufacturing footprint and strong feedstock supply, the joint venture is positioned to seek enhanced cost competitiveness and support stable domestic production for North America," Choi said. "Together, CJ and ADM will help to strengthen global food security and supply chain resilience as well as supporting American communities and manufacturing jobs."

For feed buyers, the structure concentrates fermentative amino acid capacity in the Americas under a single sales organization. Lysine and other feed-grade amino acids are core ingredients in swine and poultry rations, and their cost feeds directly into feed margins. The companies did not disclose financial terms, ownership percentages beyond CJ's majority position, or capacity figures for the contributing plants.

The asset perimeter is specific. CJ retains ownership of its IP and its global fermentation businesses outside the venture's scope. ADM's other Decatur operations and its other global fermentation assets are excluded from the transaction.

CJ CheilJedang, founded in 1953 as Korea's first sugar manufacturer and now part of CJ Group, sells feed-grade amino acids under the BESTAMINO brand through its CJ BIO unit. ADM, headquartered in Chicago, operates as a global agricultural supply chain manager and processor with a broad human and animal nutrition portfolio.

The launch date depends on customary closing activities and regulatory approvals, which leaves the timing of any market impact — and the JV's effect on amino acid pricing for U.S. livestock producers — unresolved until antitrust review runs its course.