And so all the bio-succinic acid players are now in production, and all of them are planning on expanding capacity soon.

Succinity GmbH, the joint venture between Corbion Purac and BASF for the production and commercialization of biobased succinic acid, just announced the successful start-up of its first commercial production facility located at the Corbion Purac site in Montmeló, Spain. The plant has an annual capacity of 10,000 metric tons and is producing commercial quantities of biobased succinic acid for the global market.

In addition to this first facility, Succinity plans a second large-scale facility. The final investment decision for this facility will be made following a successful market introduction.

The Succinity process uses a proprietary microorganism called Basfia succiniciproducens that reportedly allows for a flexible usage of different feedstocks. The closed-loop process produces biobased succinic acid without major waste streams.

BASF and Corbion Purac have been working on the development of biobased succinic acid since 2009. More analysis on the bio-succinic acid market, its potential downstream market applications on Tecnon OrbiChem’s March newsletter.

By the way, there are several Chinese firms that are also looking to produce bio-succinic acid although not on the scale that the power of four (BioAmber, Myriant, Reverdia, Succinity) have accomplished so far.