DSM and the starch company Roquette Frères (Lestrem, France) plan to build a commercial scale plant to produce biobased succinic acid, the first non-fossil feedstock derived chemical building block. The plant will be designed to produce 10,000 m.t./year and will be Europe's largest biobased succinic acid facility. It will be located at Roquette's site at Cassano Spinola, Italy and come onstream in the second half of 2012. Investment details were not disclosed. DSM and Roquette have been developing the technology since 2008 and operate a demonstration plant at Lestrem. The companies have also announced their intention to establish a joint venture, Reverdia, subject to regulatory approvals. The partners will consider "an even larger" facility in the future, depending on the response from the market. The new plant in Italy will allow customers in Europe, North America and Asia to make larger volume commitments to their customers, DSM says.
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