I am currently in Dubrovnik, Croatia, covering the ICIS Oleochemicals conference, which is about to end soon. If anybody is interested in learning more about oleochemicals and pine chemicals market, I suggest attending the incoming INFOCAST Bio-based Chemicals Summit in January in San Diego where I will be moderating a panel composed of experts in these fields.
In the meantime, let me post this news from Amyris about the company’s recent achievement of record low-cost farnesene production at around $1.75/liter. This makes polymer-grade farnesene more competitive in potential markets such as alternatives to isoprene and as a replacement for higher-priced limonene. Amyris said it expects current partners to place initial orders based on a guaranteed price for a 3-year period that is lower than current prices for the materials being replaced.
Amyris is currently marketing its Myralene farnesene as a high-performance industrial solvent. The Myralene price is reportedly 30% lower compared with current limonene market prices, Amyris claimed its industrial bio-based solvent achieves better cleaning performance.
Amyris expects sales from the solvents and rubber chemicals market to grow from less than $3 million this year to over $20 million in 2016, with some of the shipments starting this fourth quarter.
Amyris also recently announced that its second fragrance molecule has now been produced at its Brotas, Brazil, facility. R&D for this product started 10 months ago, and it has now been successfully engineered and scaled up with first shipments recently completed. In the F&F portion of its business, Amyris has 17 molecules currently under contract, with 3 molecules currently under development, and two on track for anticipated large-scale production in 2016.
Biofene shipment from Brotas, Brazil. Source: Amyris
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