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Building Starts of Lactic-Acid Plant: Purac Nederland Operations Take Shape

Posted on: Friday, 2 December 2005, 12:00 CST

By Yuthana Praiwan, Bangkok Post, Thailand

Dec. 1--Purac Nederland, the world's largest producer of natural lactic acid and lactates, has started construction of a six-billion-baht plant in Thailand, touted as Asia's first and the world's seventh largest facility.

The foundation stone of the plant was laid yesterday at the Asia Industrial Estate in Map Ta Phut, Rayong.

Gilles van Nieuwenhuyzen, the Purac president and chief executive officer, said the company chose Thailand for its new plant due to relatively low investment and operating costs and good potential for the sourcing of raw materials.

He said Thailand's infrastructure and transportation networks, as well as overall political stability, were other positive factors.

Thailand was selected from several countries proposed for the project, including Vietnam, China, Malaysia and Singapore.

Mr van Nieuwenhuyzen said Thailand was strategically located in the heart of the region, making it a significant gateway to Southeast Asian countries and other Asian nations.

Thailand also offered strong competitive advantages to investors, including an abundance of cost-effective raw materials, proximity of other chemical sources, sufficient energy supply, efficient logistical infrastructure, the availability of a skilled labour force and the government's incentive programmes.

"Our plant is located near the Laem Chabang deep-sea port, one of Thailand's main seaports, for ease of exports to Asia and worldwide," he said.

He noted the new manufacturing plant was crucial to the strategy of Purac, a subsidy of CSM, a Dutch multinational that specialises in producing and marketing food ingredients.

The facility will enable it to increase production to meet the growing global demand for lactic acid and lactic acid derivatives, now growing at the rate of around 10 percent per year.

With the latest technology and a provision for further expansion, the plant requires an investment of six billion baht. It includes the lactic acid production facility and other facilities such as sodium/potassium lactates plants, warehouses, and utilities.

The plant, with an annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes of purified lactic acid and 15,000 tonnes of sodium/potassium lactate, is scheduled to commence operations in January 2008.

Lactic acid and lactic acid derivatives are required in almost every segment of the food industry for improved functions of food, including longer shelf life, mineral enrichment, pH regulation and enhanced taste profiles. Non-food applications of Purac products include the cosmetics, detergents, concrete, agro chemicals, coatings, metal and micro-electronics industries.

The Thailand plant will rely on the fermentation of sugars and starches as raw materials which are renewable sources, said Mr Nieuwenhuyzen.

He added that all products from the plant were biodegradable and sustainable.

"We hope our investment in Thailand will contribute largely to the country's growing farm sector and economy, as most of our raw materials for the plant will be produced and supplied by local farmers," he said.

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Copyright (c) 2005, Bangkok Post, Thailand

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Source: Bangkok Post

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