Corbion Purac, headquartered in Gorinchem, the Netherlands, plans to build a €60 million PLA production plant in Thailand with an annual output of 75,000 tons – if it can sell at least a third of that volume in advance.
“As part of our strategic review we have confirmed there is an attractive demand outlook for PLA, albeit at a lower growth pace than previously assumed,” said CEO Tjerk de Ruiter. “Given our strong position in lactic acid, our unique high heat technology and the market need for a second PLA producer, we plan to forward integrate in the bioplastics value chain, from being a lactide provider to a PLA producer. We will only commence with this investment if we can secure at least one-third of plant capacity in committed PLA volumes from customers.”