In December last year, the Swiss specialty chemicals company Clariant discontinued the production of cellulosic ethanol from straw at its plant in Romania, which only opened in 2022. The end for the former flagship plant in Podari came as a surprise. According to Clariant, the plant was “unable to meet the targeted operational parameters”. Now the closed Clariant plant has a new operator. In future, the site will be operated by the Frankfurt-based biotechnology company Corden BioChem, the contract manufacturer is a subsidiary of the International Chemical Investors Group (ICIG).

New fermentation capacities on an industrial scale

According to the Luxembourg-based company, ICIG and Clariant signed an agreement to purchase the decommissioned bioethanol plant in Podari at the end of July. With the purchase of the former Clariant plant for an undisclosed sum, CordenBiochem will reportedly expand its capacities for aerobic fermentation by around 1,500 m³. In addition, capacities for anaerobic fermentation of 10,000 m³ are available at the Podari site.

Flexible contract production for fermentation products

“The size of the fermenters in Podari, between 300 and 2,500 m³, will enable Corden BioChem to offer its customers fermentation services on a large scale and at competitive prices,” the company announced. In addition, ICIG intends to restructure the new site for “flexible contract manufacturing for fermentation products”. Investments in the high double-digit million range are planned for this, particularly for downstream processes, according to the press release.

Operations to start as soon as possible

CordenBiochem wants to start operations “as soon as possible” after the transaction is completed. In addition, the Frankfurt-based biotech company also intends to “re-employ a large proportion of the employees made redundant by Clariant following the closure”.

Corden BioChem is a leading contract manufacturing company for biotechnological products - such as food and animal feed, but also technical products, functional ingredients and fine chemicals. The ICIG subsidiary operates one of the largest fermentation plants in Europe at the industrial park in Frankfurt-Höchst.

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