Page 166 - CW E-Magazine (14-11-2023)

News from Abroad

BUSINESS RESTRUCTURING

Ingevity to shut speciality chemicals facility in US

US-based speciality chemicals firm, The company will exit certain
Ingevity, has announced plans to shut commodity-oriented markets that are
down its DeRidder (Louisiana, USA) primarily rosin-based and reduce ex-
speciality chemicals manufacturing posure to structurally more expensive
plant in early 2024, a move that CTO raw material that is being dra-
will affect about 300 workers. matically impacted by the biofuels
market.
The DeRidder facility manufactures
a range of crude tall oil (CTO)-based The company will operate a dual
products that are primarily for the CTO and Alternative Fatty Acid (AFA)
Industrial Specialties business, which is tion to non-crude tall oil (CTO)-based refinery network to maximise profita-
reported within Ingevity’s Performance fatty acids (AFA). Our decision is the bility and reduce raw material cost
Chemicals segment. result of a careful evaluation of various volatility.
strategic options to address the cyclica-
“What we are doing is an important lity of our rosin-based end markets, as The company also announced addi-
step toward achieving our strategic well as the significant structural changes tional corporate and business cost
objectives of improving the profitability and elevated pricing of CTO due to the reduction actions, which combined with
and reducing the cyclicality of the per- biofuels market. Going forward, we those previously announced, are ex-
formance chemicals business and the will continue to strengthen and diversify pected to result in total annual savings
company as a whole,” said the compa- the performance chemicals business of $65-75 mn beginning in 2024.
ny’s President and CEO, Mr. John Fort- through the introduction and expansion
son. “The actions increase our focus on of complementary and new product Together with the actions taken
growing our most profitable performance offerings based on alternative chemistries, earlier in 2023, headcount reductions
chemicals businesses such as pavement such as soy and canola-based fatty represent almost 20% of Ingevity’s
technologies and accelerate our transi- acids,” he explained. global workforce.

BANKING ON INNOVATION
DMC opens new R&D lab in US

US bio-based chemical company, tary Dynamic Metabolic Control
DMC Biotechnologies, has opened a technology, enables the produc-
new 9,500 square foot metabolic engi- tion of low carbon and economical
neering and fermentation facility in the chemicals.
Research Triangle Park (RTP) area of
North Carolina, USA. “This new facility will support
a growing team and enable us to
The research and development lab bring online additional capabili-
will employ a team of metabolic engi- ties and streamline existing work-
neers, precision fermentation specialists, flows to accelerate the develop-
automation experts, and analytical ment of new sustainable chemical
support. The facility will be home to manages the company’s downstream solutions,” Mr. Kenny Erdoes, DMC’s
DMC’s workflows in strain and meta- separation and purification deve- CEO said. North Carolina currently
bolic engineering, high throughput lopment activities. ranks among the top three U.S. states
testing, as well as bench and pilot scale for bioscience employment and is a
fermentation. The RTP facility compli- DMC’s precision fermentation bio- leader in vaccine research and manu-
ments DMC’s Boulder facility, which processes, which leverage its proprie- facturing.

166 Chemical Weekly November 14, 2023

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