ICIG buys ex-Clariant site

International Chemical Investors Group (ICIG) has agreed to buy Clariant’s decommissioned bioethanol plant in Podari, Romania, for its biotech CDMO subsidiary Corden BioChem. No financial details were disclosed, but ICIG will rehire “a large proportion” of the laid-off employees and spend a double-digit million Euro sum, mainly in downstream operations, to make the site a flexible CMO.

This will give Corden BioChem 1,500 m³ of aerobic fermentation capacity in addition to the large fermentation plants it operates at Frankfurt-Höchst, Germany, plus 10,000 m³ for anaerobic fermentation. With vessels in the 300-2,500 m³ range, Podari will also enable the business “to offer large-scale, cost-competitive fermentation services to its customers”, ICIG said.

Clariant had originally opened the plant in 2021, aiming to produce about 50,000 tonnes/year of its Sunliquid brand “almost carbon-neutral” cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues sourced in the vicinity. Whilst most was targeted at fuel blends, Clariant also saw opportunities in biobased chemicals and sustainable aviation fuel.

Production began in Q2 2022 but the plant failed to achieve its targeted yields and other operational parameters on an industrial scale. As a result, Clariant took an impairment of about CHF 225 million in December 2022. In October 2023, it decided to close the site after a review that concluded that the economics of the plant could not justify the additional capital expenditure needed to continue the planned ramp-up.