June 6, 2009

Adisseo, one of the world leaders in nutritional feed additives, is to invest EUR25 million (US$35 million) to increase methionine production by 25,000 tonnes at its French and Spanish plants.

The decision is part of the company's policy to support the continuous growth of global demand for methionine, an essential amino acid for livestock feeding, especially for poultry. It follows on from a first investment plan launched last year and the decision to build a production plant in China, in partnership with China National Bluestar, Adisseo's parent company.

"This investment will allow us to meet our customers' needs before our new plant in China becomes operational," said Adisseo CEO Gerard Deman. "According to experts, global consumption of meat, which has doubled since 1997, will continue to rise to reach 320 million tonnes by 2015. And the strongest growth will be in poultry, the largest market for methionine," he adds.

Two-thirds of this 25,000-tonne capacity increase will concern Adisseo's facilities in Burgos, Spain, where liquid methionine is produced under the brand Rhodimet AT88. The French plants in Roussillon (Isere) and Commentry (Allier), which produce powder methionine Rhodimet NP99, will account for the rest. The capacity increase also applies to the facilities in St Clair du Rhone (Isere) where the main intermediate product for methionine manufacturing is produced.

Adisseo Group is the third largest manufacturer of animal nutritional additives and solutions in the world. The company employs 1,250 people, has three research labs and five production facilities.