April 24, 2007
China's Changchun Dacheng to build 2.2-million tonne corn facility
China's Changchun Dacheng Group held a ground breaking ceremony for its new plant in Changchun corn industry zone on Sunday April 22, marking the start of a new project aimed at processing 2.25 million tonnes of corn yearly.
The new corn-processing facility was approved by China's Development and Reform Committee and Environment Protection Bureau. With investment of RMB 12 billion (US$1.55 billion), the facility would have corn processing capacity of 2.25 million tonnes annually and also produce 1 million tonnes of corn-based ethanol. Other byproducts include fibre feed, corn protein powder and corn oil. The project is scheduled for completion in three and a half years. With annual production value at RMB 40 billion, it would be among the sectors of economic growth for Jinlin province.
Following several years' research and development, Changchun Dacheng Group has acquired more than a dozen corn processing patents in China. Currently, producing a tonne of ethanol in Dacheng would only require half the levels in the past. The cost of chemical corn processing is half of that in the petroleum industry.
Changchun built the world's first 20,000-tonne ethanol facility 3 years ago and a year later production had already begun at a 200,000-tonne facility. Operations at both facilities are running well. Currently, the plants also make products which are the equivalent of petroleum based products such as glycol, propylene glycol and retinal without inflicting the kind of heavy environmental damage common in the petroleum industry.
