International Chemical Investors Group buys Clariant’s decomissioned 2G ethanol plant in Romania

In Romania, International Chemical Investors Group (ICIG) signed an agreement with Clariant to purchase the decommissioned bioethanol plant in Podari, Romania in late July.

In the future, the site will be operated by ICIG’s biotechnology subsidiary Corden BioChem. As a biotechnology CDMO, Corden BioChem already operates one of Europe’s largest fermentation plants at the industrial park in Frankfurt-Höchst, Germany.

The acquisition of the Podari site expands Corden BioChem’s aerobic fermentation capacities by approximately 1,500 m³ (gross volume). In addition, the site will provide Corden BioChem with a new capacity of 10,000 m³ for anaerobic fermentations. The size of the Podari fermenters between 300 and 2.500 m³ will allow Corden BioChem to offer large scale, cost competitive fermentation services to its customers.

As part of the reorganization of the site into a flexible contract manufacturer for fermentation products, ICIG is planning further investments in the high double-digit million range, particularly for necessary downstream operations.

Corden BioChem plans to put the plant into operation as soon as possible after the closing of the transaction, which is subject to customary local filing requirements, and will rehire a large proportion of the employees laid off by Clariant after the decommissioning.