Renewable chemistry company BioAmber (Plymouth, Minnesota / USA; www.bio-amber.com) has commenced commissioning of its 30,000 t/y capacity bio-succinic acid plant in Sarnia, Ontario / Canada. The company said commissioning and start-up is expected to take around five months, with the facility being in commercial operation in Q3 2015. Construction of the USD 125m facility is expected to be completed in two months and commissioning and start-up activities are now being undertaken in parallel.

Jean-Francois Huc, BioAmber CEO, said: “This is a significant milestone for BioAmber, which is poised to begin a period of rapid growth. During the commissioning phase we will test the plant and get it running section by section, produce bio-succinic acid and qualify it with our customers and begin to sell product that meets specifications.”

The Sarnia plant will be the world’s largest succinic acid manufacturing facility, with an annual nameplate capacity of 30,000 t/y. BioAmber has signed supply agreements with a number of customers including Vinmar International (Houston, Texas / USA; www.vinmar.com), PBS producer PTTMCC Biochem (Bangkok / Thailand) that represent sales volumes of over 5,000 t in 2015 and 15,000 t in each of 2016 and 2017, and polyester polyols and PU producer Xuchuan Chemical (Taicang, Jiangsu / China; www.chinaxuchuan.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 08.10.2014. BioAmber said it has also signed a number of supply agreements with non-binding volume commitments that collectively exceed the available capacity in the plant.