November 13, 2017 - The Sarnia Journal Staff - The prospects are looking bright for BioAmber to build a second commercial plant in Sarnia.�We have shifted our focus towards Sarnia,� CEO Rick Eno said in a conference call last week.�I think part of this has to do with the lack of certainty on the regulatory environment in the U.S. and the programs in the U.S.,� Eno said, according to transcript of the call from www.SeekingAlpha.com.The Montreal-based company has been exploring locations for a second and larger plant after opening the world�s largest succinic acid plant in Sarnia in 2015.Succinic acid is a building block used in everything from plastics to paint and food to footwear.�We�re quite pleased with � our position in Sarnia and the supportive nature of our partners and our lenders in Sarnia (and) in Canada.�Nine years ago BioAmber was five people dreaming in a small office. When a demonstrator plant in France showed its patented technology was market-ready the company began securing private and government investors.BioAmber Sarnia uses corn syrup � not petroleum � to make the sugar-like product at its $186-million facility on Vidal Street.Unlike traditional petrochemical plants, Bioamber doesn�t have a flare stack and uses less energy without greenhouse gas emissions.�We literally pump that sugar into our fermenters, our yeast eats the sugar and transforms it, and spits it back out as succinic acid,� former spokesman Jean Francois Huc told The Journal in 2015.�It is truly sustainable chemistry.�
