It announced the location for the new facility on Friday (November 10). However, the plant is not expected to open until 2020 as portions of the process remain to be completed.
There is still several steps that have to be finished before the facility is ready to break ground, said Jake Piel, global marketing operations team manager with Novus.
“The competitive site studies were completed [and] we decided this was the most logical site for the project,” he told FeedNavigator. “From here we apply for specific environmental permits to be granted the right to work in the region, then the company and shareholders make a final investment decision.”
If everything goes to plan, construction on the new production facility is expected to start in 2019, with the plant set to come online in 2020, he said.
Facility location and details
Work to select the facility location started with a global search and the announcement that the company would be expanding its methionine production in 2014, said Piel.
We spoke with Jeff Klopfenstein, Novus International’s methionine business unit president about the project last year, before the potential location had been announced.
When production starts, it is intended to add 120,000 metric tons of production of the Alimet product – a methionine hydroxyl analog (HMTBa) supplement – to the 320,000 metric tons already being generated by the Chocolate Bayou facility, said Piel.
The location was selected for multiple reasons including the presence of an experienced workforce in the region, support from the community and educational systems, and access to natural resources, he said. There also is infrastructure available in the region including access to rail lines and the Victoria barge canal to move both raw materials and finished product.
“With our methionine production we have quick access to the Port of Houston, so we can serve our global customers,” he said. “We’re growing with our customers, and our customers are growing in their demand for methionine.”
The manufacturing facility is going to be located on an existing site of INEOS Nitriles LLC, said Piel.
The new plant will be managed by Newton Manufacturing, LLC – a wholly owned subsidiary of Novus International, the company said.
The company also has done outreach in the area to speak with nearby communities, said Piel.
“People see the project as a source of revenue for the region, jobs, taxes, but then when they read into the purpose behind it – that’s where it really becomes something personal to people,” he said. “If we take a broader look at how this is helping contribute to global food supply that seems to be resonating with the community.”
There also will be extra land on the site to allow for additional expansion in the future, he said.