BBCA BIOCHEMICAL & GALACTIC: joint venture for L(+) lactic acid production in China.
The new plant, currently under construction, is located in Bengbu, at about 500 km from Shanghai, and will have an initial production capacity of 30.000 metric tons, easily expandable to 50.000 metric tons per year – the largest production unit of the region.
The joint venture will operate under the name: "Anhui BBCA & GALACTIC Lactic Acid Company Limited (referred to as B&G joint venture) .The production under this project will start early 2003 and will make use of a brand new production technology developed by GALACTIC. This new efficient technology integrated to an existing corn-based glucose production site, together with highly rationalized production costs, warrant strong competitiveness to the new company and the highest quality standards for the products.
The joint venture will produce, market and sell the products within the Chinese Domestic Market as well as abroad. Further expansions will enable the joint venture to follow the market growth and to provide lactic acid to Polylactic Acid (PLA) projects. PLA is a new and very promising biodegradable polymer derived from lactic acid, for which Galactic has developed its own innovative technology.
Frederic van Gansberghe, GALACTIC's Managing Director, said: "I strongly believe that synergies between BBCA & GALACTIC will be developed in the frame of this new and challenging joint venture project. BBCA's wide knowledge, experience and structure combined with GALACTIC's know-how and technology will lead the B&G joint venture to reach a privileged market position and therefore to better serve and satisfy its customers."
Roger Li, Chairman of BBCA BIOCHEMICAL: "With the entry in the WTO, China's economy will grow rapidly and people's well-being will improve simultaneously. We expect the food and pharmaceutical industries to develop significantly and quickly, supporting the market for L(+) Lactic Acid. GALACTIC's advanced technology combined with BBCA's processing background of agricultural products and international marketing experience will allow the B&G joint venture to become a very successful internationally export-oriented company".
BBCA is a large company in the fields of biochemicals and pharmaceuticals in China. The company produces starch, citric acid and sweeteners from cereal grains and is further developing biochemical and pharmaceutical products including organic acids, amino acids, polymers and fuel ethanol.
GALACTIC, a Belgium based subsidiary of FINASUCRE – one of the largest world producers of sugar – is active in biotechnology; the company produces L(+) lactic acid using a proprietary fermentation process. Lactic acid is used by the food industry (as a natural preserving agent), by the pharmaceutical industry (as a vector of indispensable minerals or as injectable solutions), by the cosmetic industry (as moisturizing agent) and for numerous other industrial applications.
After only a few years of activity, GALACTIC became the world second largest producer of lactic acid and derivatives, exporting more than 90% of its production to more than 50 countries.