Construction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of this year. Production is expected to start in June.

Luke Palmer, the company’s director of environmental, social and governance, said the expansion will allow it to better compete in a sometimes volatile market and better serve its customers.

“I think it shows how committed CJ Bio is to growing the business in the community and helping the community to also grow,” he said. “We truly want the community to grow with us.”

The CJ Bio America plant in the ag industrial park west of Fort Dodge called Iowa’s Crossroads of Global Innovation opened in 2013. A $51 million expansion was completed in 2018-2019.

“They have done everything as a company that they said they would when we went to Seoul, South Korea, to recruit them,” said Dennis Plautz, the chief executive officer of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance.

The plant produces the amino acids lysine and threonine, which are added to feed for swine and poultry. Palmer said the amino acids promote better muscle growth in the animals.

The plant also produces a liquid soil amendment, which Palmer said is actually a byproduct of making lysine. He said it adds nitrogen back to the soil.

Palmer said the planned expansion will enable the plant to make more threonine.

He said the new production area will be directly south of the current plant.

The project is a $20,445,000 investment for the company.

According to information submitted to the Iowa Economic Development Authority, that investment includes:

• $11,435,000 in manufacturing machinery and equipment.

• $8,890,000 in building construction.

• $120,000 in computer hardware.