300000 tons of rice per year → Food grade rice protein powder: fully automatic "zero waste" production line technology and profit model
1、 Market Gap: Low Price Rice vs. High Price Protein
-The annual production of rice in Southeast Asia is approximately 170 million tons, and the selling price of broken rice is only 220-250 US dollars/ton; The global spot price of rice protein powder is 4000-4500 US $/t (food grade ≥ 90%), with a price difference of 15-20 times.
-The Chinese rice protein powder market is expected to reach 5 billion yuan in 2023 and double by 2030; Sports nutrition, plant-based milk, and gluten free baking have a CAGR of 18%.
-Regional policy: Thailand's "Bio Circular Green" grants protein extraction projects 8 years of tax exemption; Vietnam has zero tariffs on the import of deep processing equipment and a subsidy of 7% for energy transformation costs.
2、 Process route: fully closed-loop, fully automatic, three powders on the same line
1. Raw material warehouse group (30 × 1500 t vertical silo) → Low temperature drying (60 ℃ frequency conversion) → Color selection+magnetic separation, impurities<0.1%.
2. High temperature jet liquefaction: Stage I at 108 ℃/10min, Stage II at 125 ℃/45min; Dual stage alpha amylase, DE 12-15； Concentrated protein slurry (≥ 12% protein dry basis) was obtained by three-phase separation of the snail.
3. "Three Fans" Switching Module:
-Concentrated powder RPC - UF+tube bundle drying, protein 65%, power consumption 580 kWh/t
-Separation powder RPI - microfiltration+nanofiltration concentration+spray, protein 90%, fat ≤ 2%, solubility NSI ≥ 75%
-Hydrolyzed powder RHRP - high-pressure pretreatment (500MPa)+composite enzymatic hydrolysis for 10 hours, peptide<3kDa accounts for 85%, and bitterness value is reduced by 20%
Complete product path switching within 30 minutes for the same CIP loop.
4. High value by-products: sugar phase → glucose syrup (≤ 0.5ppm Cd, beverage grade); Fiber residue → degradable tableware particles; 100% reuse of evaporated condensate water.
5. Intelligent control: DCS+online NIR protein/water closed-loop; AI predicts cleaning, reducing CIP water consumption by 25%; The digital twin model reduces the switching time to ≤ 18 minutes.
3、 Capacity and Material Balance (Annual Operation 300d × 24h)
|Materials | Quantity (t · Year ⁻¹) | Unit Price (US $) | Annual Sales (US $million)|
|------|--------------|-----------|------------------|
|Food grade RPI | 48000 | 4200 | 201.6|
|Hydrolyzed RHRP | 12000 | 5800 | 69.6|
|Glucose syrup | 180000 | 380 | 68.4|
|Fiber particles | 45000 | 200 | 9.0|
Total revenue ≈ 348 million US dollars; The comprehensive gross profit margin is 28%, and EBITDA is approximately 97 million US dollars.
4、 Investment and return
-Equipment: wet extraction, membrane system, spray tower, automatic packaging, utilities, totaling 185 million dollars
-Civil engineering/installation: 35 million US dollars
-Working capital: 30 million US dollars
The total investment is approximately 250 million US dollars; Static payback period of 3.2 years (including a construction period of 18 months)
5、 Profit driving factors
1. Scale effect: 300000 tons of rice per line is the world's largest, and the depreciation and energy consumption per ton of flour are 28% lower than those of a 5kt plant
2. Product premium: The heavy metal removal patent (Cd ≤ 0.1ppm) has obtained dual organic certifications from the European Union and the United States, with a premium of+8%
3. By product hedging: Glucose syrup+fiber particles can cover steam and electricity costs, reducing overall costs by another 6%
4. Carbon benefits: Each ton of protein powder reduces 1.8 tons of CO ₂ e emissions compared to whey powder, and can generate an additional revenue of>10 US dollars/ton in the VCS market
6、 Risks and Countermeasures
-Fluctuations in raw material prices: signing 3-year lock up and futures hedging agreements with agricultural cooperatives in Thailand and Vietnam
-High cost of enzyme preparation: co building a fixed bed continuous enzyme reactor with suppliers, enzyme recovery rate>75%, and unit consumption reduced by 40%
-Exchange rate risk: USD loans+local currency sales, naturally hedging 60% exposure
Conclusion
Under the regional pattern of "rice surplus+protein shortage" in Southeast Asia, a fully automatic rice protein powder production line with an annual processing capacity of 300000 tons of rice can simultaneously output food grade RPI, RHRP, and high-purity syrup through a combination of "wet process+membrane+intelligent control", achieving an increase in added value of at least 10 times per ton of rice and an investment recovery of less than 3.5 years. With the sustained double-digit growth in global demand for plant protein, taking the lead in laying out a large-scale, low-cost, zero waste rice protein "new infrastructure" is equivalent to locking in pricing power and profit margins for the next decade.