The chemical firm said it is looking to construct an additional facility, expected to be operational in 2019, alongside its recently opened DL-methionine plant on Jurong Island in Singapore.
The new plant, which Evonik said would have an annual capacity of 150,000 metric tons when up and running, would also produce that amino acid for livestock use.
But the German firm said final authorization for go ahead on the build is still needed from its internal committees.
The decision to ramp up amino acid production capacity in Asia is based on what the chemical group sees as a dynamic growth in the global DL-methionine market.
Investment costs
The existing Evonik methionine plant on Jurong Island only went on stream in the fourth quarter of 2014 after a two-year construction period. It brought the company’s methionine output worldwide up to 580,000MT.
The group invested over €500 million on the complex, the most it says that it has ever ploughed into a single chemical project
A spokesperson for Evonik told FeedNavigator today: “The investment cost [in the new plant] will most likely be in the same order of magnitude.”
The two plants in Singapore will serve the whole of Asia, he said.
As DL-methionine is made in a continuous chemical process, the new facility will produce all associated strategically relevant precursors - hydrogen cyanide, methyl mercaptan and acrolein – at the site. “This means supply security for our customers and contributes to Evonik's image as a reliable supplier,” said the spokesperson.
Methionine capacity beyond Asia
The company also produces DL-methionine at in Antwerp in Belgium, Wesseling/Cologne in Germany, and Alabama in the US.
The company remained tight lipped on the status of the new plant in Alabama for Mepron, which is a form of methionine that has been formulated specifically for dairy cows. The facility had been set to come on stream mid-2015.
Meanwhile, the first production site for Evonik’s shrimp targeted Aquavi Met-Met, a dipeptide made up of two methionine molecules, is being built in Antwerp in Belgium.
The appeal of methionine and other amino acids, said the chemical firm, is that they can lower the crude protein content of animal feed, which in turn benefits the environment by alleviating resource consumption, greenhouse effect, eutrophication, and acidification potential.