BioAmber and Mitsui & Co. announced that the initial phase of their Sarnia, ON facility is expected to have production capacity of 17,000 tonnes of biosuccinic acid and commence commercial production in 2013. In addition, the companies announced plans to jointly build and operate two additional facilities that, together with Sarnia, will have a total cumulative capacity of 165,000 tons of succinic acid and 123,000 tons of butane diol (BDO). BioAmber will be the majority shareholder in the plants.
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| BioAmber's biobased succinic acid production plant, called the world's first by the company, is located in Pomacle, France. It had an initial nameplate capacity of 2000 tonnes, which after numerous process improvements, was boosted to approximately 3000 tonnes. |
"Our goal is to play a leading role in the growth of renewable chemicals, as evidenced by our recent joint ventures with BioAmber in North America for biosuccinic acid and The Dow Chemical Company in Brazil for biochemicals," said Masanori Ikebe, General Manager of Mitsui's Specialty Chemicals Division.
BioAmber is currently producing and selling succinic acid at a plant in France and has proven the quality and cost competitiveness of its technology without subsidies, using commercial scale fermenters. Its proprietary technology platform combines industrial biotechnology, an innovative purification process and patented catalysts to convert renewable feedstocks into chemical that are cost effective replacements for petroleumâ€derived chemicals.
"BioAmber's partnership with Mitsui & Co. is a strong endorsement of our technology platform," said Jeanâ€Francois Huc, CEO of BioAmber. "Mitsui is an ideal partner thanks to its longâ€term commitment to renewable chemistry, its extensive reach into chemical markets and its strategic access to sustainable feedstocks. Mitsui also has the financial strength to support our expansion and help us compete internationally," he added.
