Cathay Industrial Biotech Launches Bio-Butanol
March 30, 2008
Cathay Industrial Biotech Ltd. (“Cathay” or the “Company”) announced today that its new bio-butanol plant successfully commenced production of quality bio-based butanol. This is a key milestone for Cathay as it continues to expand its product portfolio and enhance its leadership position in the industrial biotech sector. The Company’s bio-butanol plant is located in Jilin Province in Northeast China. The existing facility has a capacity of 30,000 metric tons per annum with plans to expand to 200,000 metric tons in the near future.
Butanol is an important chemical and industrial solvent with an over US$1 billion market in China alone. Currently, China relies on a significant amount of import for its demand of butanol. Additionally, bio-butanol is increasingly recognized as a promising alternative bio-fuel for the future.
In announcing the successful startup, Cathay’s Founder, Chairman and CEO, Dr. Xiucai Liu said: "Cathay is one of the pioneer biotech companies to focus on bio-butanol research and today this research has come to fruition with our new facility in Jilin. After the Company’s success in bio-based long chain dibasic acids, used in polymer chemical, fragrance, powder coating, and a variety of other applications, we chose bio-butanol as the second major product in our strategic business development due to its attractive near-term chemical market opportunities in China and its substantial long-term potential as a promising alternative bio-fuel. The Company has developed and will continue to improve a number of proprietary technologies and processes for bio-butanol production. Now, as one of the earliest commercial scale producer of bio-butanol in the world, we are delighted to offer our customers an alternative supply of butanol products with less environmental impact and at competitive prices.”
Cathay will start the construction of its second phase of bio-butanol facility immediately. Meanwhile, the Company is also exploring the possibility of producing bio-butanol using a variety of different feedstock in China and overseas, including cellulosic biomaterials. "This facility is a good start. We intend to maintain our leadership position in bio-butanol, as we have done with our long chain diacid business. We are confident we can achieve that with our strong R&D capability and our proven track record in commercializing technologies." said Dr. Liu.
About Cathay Industrial Biotech Ltd.
Cathay Industrial Biotech is a leading industrial biotech company. It produces chemical products through bioprocess. Currently, Cathay is the world’s largest bio-based producer of long chain diacids and one of the earliest producers of bio-butanol. The Company is founded in 1997. Its headquarters is located in Shanghai, China with production facilities in Shandong and Jilin Province in China. For further information, please visit www.cathaybiotech.com.
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