US Agri Giant Cargill’s $600m Thailand Biopolymer Plant Plan

• Joint venture firm NatureWorks will oversee sustainable material’s production

• 11,000 tonnes of sugar will help make masks, cloths and food packaging

US agribusiness Cargill Inc and Thailand’s PTT Global Chemical have announced plans to build a biopolymer production facility at a cost of more than $600 million in Thailand.

The plant will be built through their joint venture, NatureWorks, and will help meet increasing demand for sustainable materials, PTTGC said in a statement.

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The manufacturing complex will use about 110,000 tonnes of sugar annually from Thai farmers as a raw material and have an annual biopolymer capacity of 75,000 tonnes. It is due to begin operations in 2024.

Its products can be used to make hygiene masks, cloths and food packaging.

The investment comes less than a month after PTTGC announced a $4.75 billion acquisition of German coating resins maker Allnex.

Reuters and Sean O’Meara

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Sean O'Meara

Sean O'Meara is an Editor at Asia Financial. He has been a newspaper man for more than 30 years, working at local, regional and national titles in the UK as a writer, sub-editor, page designer and print editor. A football, cricket and rugby fan, he has a particular interest in sports finance.