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09/28/1999
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| Lonza Fine Chemicals and Specialties puts a production facility for niacinamide into operation following a joint venture agreement with Guangzhou Pesticide Factory. The plant, with a design capacity of 3,400 t/a and about 150 employees, has been built on the Guangzhou Pesticide Factories‘ premises in Guangzhou. Lonza has a 60 percent stake in the 30 million US dollar joint venture. |
Guangzhou/Basel, September 30, 1999 - Lonza Guangzhou Fine Chemicals Ltd. will produce niacinamide for food and pharma using as licensee a new process developed by Lonza Ltd. Niacinamide is the water-soluble form of niacin, an essential vitamin of the B group. With its current production capacity of 15,000 t/a in Switzerland, Lonza is the largest producer of this B-complex vitamin, supplying more than half the world's requirements.
In China Lonza used one of their assets: to combine a chemical process with an enzymatic step. With the new plant Lonza meets the increasing demand and potential in the nicotinate business in Asia.
"The joint venture ensures us access to the strategically important growth market Asia", explained Dr R. Helmut Rupp, Executive Vice President of Alusuisse Lonza Group Ltd. "We will be able to supply our customers, who are already operating in this region, directly from local production and further consilidate our worldwide market leadership."
The engineering of this new plant was planned and carried out by Lonza with the support of a local Design Institute. The construction of the buildings and the installation of the plant were performed with local companies under the supervision ot the Lonza Project Team. Emphasis was put on the fulfilment of high safety and environmental standards. The time required from the start to the finish of the construction and installation was 18 months. Crucial equipment was imported, whereas all other parts are of Chinese origin.
Guangzhou Pesticide Factory is located in Guangdong province, not far from Hong Kong and was founded in 1956.
The Fine Chemicals and Specialties division (known by the name of Lonza) of the Alusuisse-Lonza Group develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of fine chemicals, intermediates and specialty chemicals. Lonza is a world leader in the field of exclusive syntheses for leading life science companies. The division has 11 production sites in the USA, Switzerland, the UK, the Czech Republic and China and employs some 4,400 people. Sales in 1998 were CHF 1547 million.
For further information please contact:
Dr. W. Eschenmoser
t + 41-61-3168363
f + 41-61-3168220
walter.eschenmoser@lonzagroup.com |
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