Novamont, Genomatica in bio-BDO deal

JV will make BDO for bioplastics in Italy
 

Genomatica, the US-based specialist in technologies to produce chemicals from renewable feedstocks, and Novamont, the Italian biodegradable plastics giant, have signed a definitive agreement establishing a joint venture to build the first industrial plant in Europe making butanediol (BDO) directly from renewable feedstocks. This follows on from an original letter of intent last August.

Capacity at the site in Adria, Italy, will be about 18,000 tonnes/year and production, which was originally envisaged for late 2012, should begin in 2013. Novamont will purchase all of the output to use in its Mater-Bi brand of biopolymers that have BDO as a key monomer, though Genomatica has the right to use some to support further market development.

“Genomatica’s BDO is the exact same chemical we’ve been using, and is the direct equivalent of petroleum-based BDO but with a smaller environmental footprint,” said Novamont CEO Catia Bastioli. The two companies also plan a second BDO plant using Genomatica’s process and biomass sugars as the feedstock.

Novanont will have a majority stake, though exactly what has not been specified. As envisaged in the original agreement, the two “will share in the earnings of plants according to specific terms between the companies”. Novamont will pay for the costs of converting the facility to Genomatica’s BDO process, while Genomatica will provide the basic engineering package, technology transfer and engineering support.

Shortly after the original agreement had been announced in August, Genomatica filed a registration statement for an IPO of its entire stock and also announced its successful production of kilo quantities of butadiene from renewable feedstocks. This was its second product after BDO. The exact nature of the feedstocks used was not disclosed.

Butadiene, Genomatica noted, “is one of the seven basic chemicals at the core of the chemical industry” with uses in tyres, engineering plastics and latex products. It is currently made mainly as a by-product of ethylene cracking but supplies have decreased, causing prices to multiply, as the spread between natural gas and crude oil prices has widened, leading to less production of C3 and C4 chemicals. The world butadiene market is about 9 million tonnes/year, worth some $40 billion.