Biobased-chemical company GFBiochemicals has started commercial production at its 10,000 metric ton per year capacity levulinic acid plant in Caserta, Italy.
The company says it’s the first to produce levulinic acid — a building block for specialty chemicals and materials — at commercial scale directly from biomass.
The large-scale production plant and proprietary technology will lower the price of levulinic acid, making it available to new market segments, says GFBiochemicals Maxim Katinov.
The global market for bio-based platform chemicals is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.82 percent from 2015-2019, according to a TechNavio report.
In March BASF made bio-based Polytetrahydrofuran 1000 available for the first time and BioAmber initiated commissioning activities for its 30,000 metric ton-capacity bio-succinic acid plant — the world’s largest — located in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada.