Purac aims for Thailand lactide plant start-up in second half of 2011

01 December 2010 17:43  [Source: ICIS news]

DUSSELDORF (ICIS)--Purac’s 75,000 tonne/year lactide plant in Rayong, Thailand, is on track to start up in the second half of 2011, the Netherlands-based specialty chemicals producer said on Wednesday.

Purac said the plant, which cost €45m ($59m) to build, would produce monomers for bioplastics to meet its current level of demand and accelerate the group’s market development.

Sicco de Vos, a principal specialist in polymer technology for Purac, said the plant would play a leading role in the development of the market for lactic acid-based bioplastics, in particular polylactic acid (PLA).

De Vos, speaking at the 5th European bioplastics conference in Dusseldorf, added that PLA would continue to gain attractiveness compared to traditional oil-based plastics through further investments in future generations of products.

He said that if demand for the product increased, Purac would look at options to expand production as it already had room at the site to grow capacity.

“If demand continues to grow, we are ready to build further,” de Vos said.

The 5th European Bioplastics Conference is being held on 1-2 December.

Purac is a subsidiary of Dutch firm CSM.

($1 = €0.77)

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By: Franco Capaldo
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