BASF SE, Purac form joint venture on succinic acid

BASF SE and Purac, a subsidiary of CSM, have begun negotiations to form a joint venture for the production of bio-based succinic acid.

The companies have been conducting research under a joint development agreement on bio-based succinic acid since 2009.

The complementary strengths in fermentation and down-stream processing led to the development of a sustainable and highly efficient manufacturing process based on a proprietary microorganism.

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.

"We aim to be the first commercial producer in the market with a 25,000 tons 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, CSM CEO.

"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."

During the existing cooperation 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 combines high efficiency with the use of renewable substrates and the fixation of the greenhouse gas CO2 during the production.

This results in a positive eco-footprint and makes bio-based succinic acid an economically and ecologically attractive alternative to petrochemical substitutes.

The employed microorganism Basfia succiniciproducens is a natural producer of succinic acid and can process a wide variety of C3, C5 and C6 renewable feedstocks, including biomass sources.