BioAmber has signed a take-or-pay contract for bio-based 1,4-Butanediol (BDO) with Vinmar International.
Under the terms of the 15-year agreement, Vinmar has committed to purchase 100% of the BDO produced in a 100,000 ton per year capacity plant that BioAmber plans to build in North America and commission in 2017.
Vinmar also plans to invest in the BDO plant alongside BioAmber.
BDO is a building block chemical that is used in a wide range of products, including engineering plastics for the automotive industry, polyurethanes, biodegradable plastics and fibres for nonwovens and textiles.
BioAmber produces BDO by combining its succinic acid technology with a catalyst technology licensed from DuPont and the company believes its bio-based BDO is cost competitive with petroleum derived BDO. To date, BioAmber has validated the high quality of its bio-based BDO with over 20 purchasers of petrol-based BDO.
The current annual value of the global BDO market is approximately $4 billion.
