MOBILE, US: Bayer CropScience AG said in partnership with Evonik Industries AG it plans to invest more than $200 million, to construct two chemical manufacturing units in Mobile area. The units will produce precursor materials for use in the production of liberty herbicide, a key component in Bayer’s libertylink weed management technology.
Construction of the two production units will take approximately two years to complete, with the start-up of production beginning in mid-2017, Evonik said.
Located in the Evonik manufacturing facility in Theodore industrial park in Mobile county, the production unit will see Evonik constructing one of the units and Bayer the other, with the resulting intermediate from the combined manufacturing being used in the production of liberty.
“The project we are announcing today is in line with our global commitment to sustainable agriculture,” said Michael van Nooy, head, global active ingredient operations, Bayer CropScience.
“The new investment in Mobile allows us to continue supporting and accompanying the growth course we’ve experienced in recent years with Bayer CropScience,” said Caspar Gammelin, head, performance materials segment, Evonik.
Globally, Bayer is in the process of doubling its liberty herbicide production capacity. “In expanding our production of Liberty, we are responding to urgent calls by farmers and agronomists for an alternative weed control technology to help combat the rising problem of weed resistance,” said John Smith, who leads key account management, Bayer CropScience’s commercial operations. Canola, corn, cotton and soybeans are the crops benefiting from this technology.
The new units together will employ approximately 50 people once production begins, said Jim Covington, head, operations in Mobile, Bayer CropScience.
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