Taking their R&D cooperation on bio-based succinic acid to the next level (see Plasteurope.com of 05.10.2009), BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com) and CSM (Diemen / The Netherlands; www.csm.nl) subsidiary Purac (Gorinchem / The Netherlands; www.purac.com) on 1 August announced that they had started talks to establish a joint venture to produce the bioplastic feedstock. The material has so far only been tested in-house by BASF and the two companies said they are now able to make larger volumes available to external customers.

“We aim to be the first commercial producer in the market with a 25,000 t/y capacity fermentation production plant at the Purac site near Barcelona / Spain, with the intention to start up by 2013 at the latest,” said CSM chief executive Gerard Hoetmer, adding: “We are already planning a world-scale plant with a capacity of 50,000 t/y to account for the expected demand growth.” Leading drivers in the succinic acid market are bioplastics, chemical intermediates, solvents, polyurethanes and plasticisers. A report recently published by industry association European Bioplastics (Berlin / Germany; www.european-bioplastics.org) predicts that global bioplastics demand will double by 2015 – see Plasteurope.com of 26.05.2011.

Since first entering into a cooperation agreement in 2009, BASF and Purac have been working on a sustainable and efficient manufacturing process based on a proprietary microorganism known as basfia succiniciproducens. Said bacteria are a natural procuder of succinic acid and can process a range of C3, C5 and C6 renewable feedstocks, leaving a positive eco-footprint.

DSM (Sittard / The Netherlands; www.dsm.com) also recently touted plans to start producing succinic acid together with French starch and derivatives producer Roquette Frères (Lestrem; www.roquette.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 10.05.2011.