GOUDA, Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 23, 2026--
Cargill has opened a new FR3 ® natural ester dielectric fluid production plant in Gouda, the Netherlands.
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Cargill has opened a new FR3® natural ester dielectric fluid production plant in Gouda, the Netherlands.
Customers across Europe need dependable access to FR3 ® fluid as grid investment accelerates. By tripling European production capacity in Gouda, Cargill is strengthening supply availability, simplifying logistics, and improving responsiveness as demand grows from electrical infrastructure expansion, data centers, renewable energy, and battery storage. The result is greater supply certainty for customers seeking bio-based, high-performance transformer fluid that supports safer and more resilient power systems than those using mineral oil.
“Establishing a state-of-the-art full-scale production facility for FR3 ® fluid in Europe allows us to better serve regional customers, reduce complexity in logistics, and respond faster to market needs,” shared Colleen May, President of Cargill Bioindustrial. “This new facility reflects Cargill’s long-term confidence in FR3 ® fluid as a critical solution for the future of global energy systems.”
Proven technology and product leadership
FR3 ® natural ester dielectric fluid has more than 30 years of proven performance and 5 million installations worldwide. As a natural ester, FR3 ® fluid has two times the fire point of mineral oil and the environmental benefit of being 100% biodegradable in as little as 10 days according to OPPTS 835.3100. It also outperforms traditional mineral oil across total cost of ownership, transformer performance, and grid resiliency.
Strengthening European supply with local production
Multiple sites were evaluated, but ultimately Gouda was selected based on technical expertise, strategic location, and operational readiness. Cargill already operates an ester plant in Gouda, with deep experience with ester-based products, therefore making the site a strong operational and technical fit for FR3 ® fluid production. Located on Cargill’s existing site, the new plant benefits from excellent logistics and transportation access, supporting reliable supply to customers across Europe. Existing infrastructure, utilities, and available space enabled an efficient expansion.
The project reinforces Cargill’s long-standing presence in the Netherlands and commitment to local manufacturing. As part of that commitment, Cargill has invested approximately $30 million to expand FR3 ® natural ester dielectric fluid production in Gouda.
About Cargill
Cargill is committed to providing food, ingredients, agricultural solutions, and industrial products to nourish the world in a safe, responsible, and sustainable way. Sitting at the heart of the supply chain, we partner with farmers and customers to source, make and deliver products that are vital for living.
Our 155K+ employees innovate with purpose, providing customers with life’s essentials so businesses can grow, communities prosper, and consumers live well. With 160 years of experience as a family company, we look ahead while remaining true to our values. We put people first. We reach higher. We do the right thing—today and for generations to come. For more information, visit Cargill.com and our News Center.
FR3® is a registered trademark of Cargill, Incorporated.
By tripling European production capacity in Gouda, Cargill is strengthening supply availability, simplifying logistics, and improving responsiveness as demand grows from electrical infrastructure expansion, data centers, renewable energy, and battery storage.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said the U.S. was talking with a “respected” Iranian leader and claimed the Islamic Republic was eager for a deal to end the war. He also extended a deadline for Iran to reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on its power plants, saying it has an additional five days.
Trump’s turnaround, which held out the possibility of resolving the war now in its fourth week, served to drive down oil prices and jolt stocks. It offered a reprieve after the U.S. and Iran traded threats over the weekend with potentially catastrophic repercussions for civilians across the region.
Trump told reporters that Iran wants “to make a deal,” and claimed U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner had held talks with an Iranian leader Sunday. He did not say who was representing Iran but said the U.S. has not talked to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.
Trump said if a deal is reached, the U.S. would move to take Iran’s enriched uranium, which is critical to its disputed nuclear program. Iran has adamantly refused such demands in the past, insisting it has the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.
Iranian state media cited Iranian officials as denying any such talks, and said Trump had backed down “following Iran’s firm warning.” Turkey and Egypt meanwhile said they had spoken to the warring parties, the first sign of coordinated mediation from the regional heavyweights.
The war has already seen several dramatic turning points — the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, the bombing of a key Iranian gas field, and strikes targeting oil and gas facilities and other civilian infrastructure in Gulf Arab nations. The conflict has killed more than 2,000 people, shaken the global economy, sent oil prices surging, and endangered some of the world’s busiest air corridors.
The latest threatened attacks could have cut electricity to millions of people in Iran and around the Gulf, and knocked out desalination plants that provide many desert nations with drinking water. There are also increasing concerns about the consequences of any strikes on nuclear facilities.
Trump said over the weekend that the U.S. would “obliterate” Iran’s power plants unless the country releases its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all traded oil passes, within 48 hours — a deadline that would have expired late Monday Washington time.
In extending the deadline by five days, Trump said the suspension was “subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions.” In Tehran, the state-owned IRAN newspaper reported that Iran’s Foreign Ministry denied there had been any talks.
“Remarks by the U.S. president are part of efforts to reduce energy prices and buy time to implement his military plans,” the newspaper said.
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he spoke by phone with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan. Turkey has been an intermediary in past talks between Tehran and Washington.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment Monday on whether the country had relayed messages between Iran and the U.S. On Sunday, however, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held telephone calls with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi as well as counterparts from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, and the European Union. Turkish officials also said he spoke with U.S. officials as part of efforts to end the war, without providing further details.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi meanwhile said Cairo has delivered “clear messages” to Iran focusing on de-escalating the conflict, according to his office. Egypt says it has intensified its efforts to de-escalate the war in the Middle East. Egypt's Foreign Ministry said it was making “constant efforts and communications” with all parties in recent days.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard had promised retaliation if Trump made good on his threat, saying Iran would hit power plants in all areas that supply electricity to American bases, “as well as the economic, industrial and energy infrastructures in which Americans have shares.”
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Iran would consider vital infrastructure across the region to be legitimate targets, including desalination facilities critical for drinking water in Gulf nations.
Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guard, published a list of such facilities, including the United Arab Emirates’ nuclear power plant. Over the weekend, Iran launched missiles targeting the city of Dimona in Israel, near a facility key to its long-suspected atomic weapons program. The Israeli facility wasn’t damaged.
In the wake of Trump's turnaround, Fars and the Tasnim news agencies portrayed the American president as backing down.
“Since the start of the war, messages have been sent to Tehran by some mediators, but Iran’s clear response has been that it will continue its defense until the required level of deterrence is achieved,” Tasnim’s report said. “With this kind of psychological warfare, neither the Strait of Hormuz will return to prewar conditions nor will calm return to energy markets.”
With the U.S. deploying more amphibious assault ships and additional Marines to the Middle East, Iran's Defense Council warned against any ground attack, saying it would “lead to the mining of all access routes.”
Trump has said he has no plans to send ground forces into Iran but has not ruled it out. Israel has suggested its ground forces could take part in the war.
Iran's chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz has wreaked havoc on energy markets and pushed up prices of food and other goods well beyond the Middle East.
“No country will be immune to the effects of this crisis if it continues to go in this direction,” said Fatih Birol, the head of the Paris-based International Energy Agency.
Oil prices were stubbornly high in early trading Monday, but plunged after Trump's announcement.
Jorge Moreira da Silva, a senior United Nations official, said the world has already seen a ripple effect, including “exponential price hikes in oil, fuel and gas” that have had a far-reaching impact on millions, primarily in Asian and African developing countries.
“There is no military solution,” he said.
Israel launched new attacks Monday on the Iranian capital, saying it had “begun a wide-scale wave of strikes” on infrastructure targets in Tehran without immediately elaborating. Explosions were heard in multiple locations in the afternoon. It wasn’t immediately clear what had been hit.
The United Arab Emirates said it was attempting to intercept new incoming Iranian fire Monday afternoon.
Israel is also battling the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, while the group has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel.
In recent days, Israel has hit many apartment buildings in Beirut and bombed bridges over the Litani River in the Lebanon’s south.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called the targeting of bridges “a prelude to a ground invasion,” while Egypt denounced the strikes as the “collective punishment” of civilians for the actions of Hezbollah.
The U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said Monday that a building at its headquarters in the coastal town of Naqoura was struck by a projectile, which the force believes “was fired by a non-state actor,” an apparent reference to Hezbollah.
There have been battles between Hezbollah and Israeli forces at multiple points along the border. The UNIFIL statement said that “over the past 48 hours, peacekeepers have recorded intense gunfire and explosions” in the Naqoura area and “bullets, fragments, and shrapnel have hit buildings and open areas inside our headquarters.”
Authorities say Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon and displaced more than 1 million.
Iran’s death toll has surpassed 1,500, its Health Ministry has said. In Israel, 15 people have been killed by Iranian strikes. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed, along with more than a dozen civilians in the occupied West Bank and Gulf Arab states.
Rising reported from Bangkok and Magdy from Cairo. AP writers Bill Barrow in Atlanta, Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington, New Zealand, Sally Abou AlJoud and Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece contributed to this report.
Missiles launched from Iran streak across the sky over central Israel, early Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A man waves an Iranian flag during a campaign in support of the government as a woman and vehicles pass by at the Enqelab-e-Eslami, or Islamic Revolution, square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A woman waves an Iranian flag during a campaign in support of the government at the Enqelab-e-Eslami, or Islamic Revolution, square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Smoke and flames rise from an Israeli airstrike that hit the Qasmiyeh Bridge near the coastal city of Tyre, Lebanon, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)
A cargo ship carrying vehicles sails through the Arabian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz in the United Arab Emirates, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (AP Photo)
People follow a truck carrying the flag draped coffins of Gen. Ali Mohammad Naeini, a spokesperson for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and one of his comrades Amir Hossein Bidi , during their funeral procession in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
