Dr Andreas Kreimeyer, Member of the Board of Executive Directors, BASF.
LUDWIGSHAFEN, GERMANY/DIEMEN, THE NETHERLANDS: BASF SE and Purac, subsidiary of CSM NV will form a joint venture for the production of bio-based succinic acid. The complementary strengths in fermentation and downstream processing led to the development of a sustainable and highly efficient manufacturing process based on a proprietary micro organism. The demand for succinic acid is anticipated to grow strongly in the next years. Main drivers are expected to be bioplastics, chemical intermediates, solvents, polyurethanes and plasticizers.
The companies have been conducting research under a joint development agreement on bio-based succinic acid since 2009. Critical steps of the jointly developed production process have been validated in several successful production campaigns. The resulting volumes were used to evaluate the market.
The newly developed process results in a positive eco-footprint and makes bio-based succinic acid an economically and ecologically attractive alternative to petrochemical substitutes.
“Until now our partnership has been successful and moving towards a joint venture will strengthen our goal to become the leading supplier in the succinic acid market,” said Dr Andreas Kreimeyer, Member of the Board of Executive Directors, BASF.
“We aim to be the first commercial producer in the market with a 25,000 tonne capacity fermentation production plant at the Purac site near Barcelona, Spain, with the intention to start up by 2013 at the latest,” said Gerard Hoetmer, CEO, CSM. “In addition, we are already planning a world-scale plant with a capacity of 50,000 tons to account for the expected demand growth. This partnership has enormous potential as it leverages the combined competencies of two leading companies in their fields.”
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