By Heather Wright, from www.sarniathisweek.com Sarnia This Week
The shovel hasn’t even hit the ground yet and BioAmber says it will more than double the size of its Sarnia biosuccinic acid plant.
And it’s all because of spandex.
BioAmber announced in September that it plans to build an $80million biosuccinic acid plant in the Chemical Valley. Succinic acid is one of the main chemical building blocks of everything from auto parts to packaging. BioAmber developed a product to make the formerly oil-based acid with plants instead. And the uses for the biosuccinic acid are growing.
During a recent conference in Sarnia held by the BioIndustrial Innovation Center Bio Amber Executive Vice President Mike Hartmann said the company is ready to produce chemical used in spandex.
“We successfully scaled up technology to make BDO…(for) spandex,” says Hartmann. “We’ve successfully used our biosuccinic acid from our French plant and have samples for customers to use.”
Spandex is used world wide in clothing. Hartmann says that means there is a huge market for the new bio-based version. “Customer demand seems to be very strong and a lot of people like what we’re doing,” says Hartmann.
And that is good news for Sarnia. When BioAmber announced the biosuccinic plant last year, it was already showing drawings for expansion. But Hartmann says using it in spandex has guaranteed that expansion.
“As we finish Sarnia One, we can go right to Sarnia Two and expand capacity and then use some of that capacity to make BDO.
“The total size (of the second phase) will be bigger in the future…it will actually be more than doubled.
“We are definitely going to be here for a while and keep building.”
Sarnia This Week Article ID# 3524080
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