World’s largest bio-based succinic acid plant nears completion
13/05/2015
The facility has a capacity of 30,000 tons per year and BioAmber says it will be the world’s largest when it comes on stream in the third quarter.
Succinic acid can also be transformed into 1,4-Butanediol (BDO) and Tetrahydrofuran (THF), which are used to make plastics, polyurethanes, polyesters and spandex, a market estimated to exceed $10 billion per year.
The company has also licensed technology from Johnson Matthey Davy Technologies, enabling the construction of second plant in North America that will produce 70,000 tons of bio-based BDO and 30,000 tons of bio-based THF. That plant is expected to be operational in 2017 or 2018.
CEO Jean-Francois Huc said: "We have been able to execute effectively in Sarnia while reducing the risk associated with the next plant, and now we have the capital needed to undertake critical engineering and site related work on our next plant so that we don't lose time.”
The company recently raised $35.1 million through a public offering of common stock.
"On the commercial front, the recent Bayer MaterialScience announcement is a strong endorsement of BioAmber's leadership position in bio-succinic acid and a clear signal of the growing demand for more sustainable chemicals," added Mr Huc.
BioAmber was selected as one of the top 10 green chemistry innovators by LAUNCH, an organization established by Nike, NASA, the US Department of State and the US Agency for International Development.
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