January 22, 2013
Evonik partners DonBioTech for L-lysine facility in Rostov, Russia
Press release
Evonik has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the government of the Russian Rostov region to establish a facility for the production of Biolys？？ in Volgodonsk through the joint venture with DonBioTech.
The joint venture will use Evonik fermentation technology in the new Biolys？？ plant to produce L-lysine.Biolys？？ is considered a highly effective source of lysine in animal feed for swine and poultry. The new facility is to become operational in 2014 and will have an annual capacity of approximately 100,000 metric tons of Biolys？？. The raw material to be processed by the joint venture will consist of wheat grown in the Rostov Region.
The operative partners of the joint venture are Evonik Industries AG as a minority shareholder and the Russian Varshavsky Group. The MOU was signed in the presence of Ilse Aigner, the German Minister of Agriculture, Nicolai Federov, her Russian counterpart, and Patrik Wohlhauser, member of the Executive Board of Evonik Industries AG.
"The new Biolys？？ plant is a windfall for our region and the city of Volgodonsk," Governor Golubev said. "It will create about 200 professional-level jobs and will add value to wheat as a regional resource. The Biolys？？ produced in the plant will support efficient and sustainable pork production in Russia and contribute to meeting the demand for meat in Russia."
Wohlhauser had an equally positive assessment of the joint venture, "This effort secures the raw material supply, while the backwards integration will cover a larger part of the supply chain. That is essential for positioning Evonik in the important Russian market." He praised the excellent support for the implementation of the project provided by the city of Volgodonsk and the Rostov Region.
Amino acids for animal feed, and particularly DL-methionine, are part of the core business of Evonik, which is currently undergoing major expansion. Additional capacities for TrypAMINO？？ (L-tryptophan) and Biolys？？ (source of L-lysine) have been established in Europe and the US and the new methionine plant currently under construction in Singapore, which marks the largest chemicals investment of Evonik to date, will secure a leading market position for this amino acid for the Group.
Evonik is the only company worldwide to produce and market all four essential amino acids for modern animal nutrition, including Biolys？？ (source of L-lysine), MetAMINO？？ (DL-methionine), ThreAMINO？？ (L-threonine) and TrypAMINO？？ (L-tryptophan). The Group''s services and products are available in over 100 countries.