Cargill Dow Polymers plans $300m PLA facility

11 January 2000 18:37  [Source: ICIS news]

NEW YORK (CNI)--The Cargill Dow Polymers joint venture plans to develop a $300m (Euro294m) world commercial-scale, 136 116 tonne/year polylactic (PLA) polymer plant with production by 2002 of polymers priced between $1102-$2204/tonne.

Headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, Cargill Dow Polymers has picked Blair, Nebraska as the site for what it describes as the first world-scale PLA plant.

Despite an investment of millions of dollars by joint venture parents Dow Chemical and Cargill, Jim Stoppert, president of Cargill Dow Polymers said: "I'm sure the production will be sold out on the day it opens."

Major applications for the PLA polymer include packaging and fibre, with competitive performance and price characteristics, he said. The fibre applications will be more costly than the packaging applications, Stoppert notes.

While the initial feedstock for the plant will be 40 000 bushels of corn/day, the venture is also experimenting with other renewable agricultural sources of dextrose, including sugar beets, cassava and other crops.

A second plant is being planned for an as-yet undetermined location in Europe, and subsequent plants will follow every 18-24 months, according to Stoppert.

By: Charles Thurston
+1 713 525 2653

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