Liz Gyekye / PackagingNews

NatureWorks secures $150m from Thai-based chemicals firm

Bioplastics manufacturer NatureWorks has secured a $150m investment from Thailand-based chemicals giant PTT Chemical.

NatureWorks hopes the investment will help it to expand its footprint in the market for plastics and films used in personal care packaging.

The investment, which has been backed by the Thai government as part of its initiative to become a regional hub for green technologies, will lead to an advanced biopolymer plant being built in Thailand that will primarily supply the Asian regional market.

Although the exact location of the new plant has not been revealed, the two companies say that it should come online in 2015, while further details on the investment will be made clear later on in the year.

The plant will be NatureWork’s second global production facility, and feeds into the fact that its annual production has been increasing at a steady rate of between 25 and 30% over the course of the past few years, while production of its Ingeo line has doubled over the last two years.


‘Significant step’

“This is a significant step by a leading chemical company, which will allow NatureWorks to continue its aggressive growth while expanding its capacity to meet global demand for bio-based products,” said NatureWorks chief executive Marc Verbruggen.

“PTT Chemical’s investment demonstrates a significant milestone in moving Ingeo bio-based plastics and fibres to the polymer mainstream,” he added.

NatureWorks already supplies its family of renewable Ingeo biopolymers, which are made from a plant base, to markets worldwide, but the new investment will help the company to expand its distribution further into the fast-growing Asian market.

The Ingeo biopolymer line is used in a number of packaging applications, including a variety of clear and coloured bottles as well laminated coatings and multi-layered performance packaging.

The major selling point of bioplastics is that they are derived from renewable resources, unlike regular plastics which are invariably derived from non-renewable petrochemical sources.

The Ingeo line is marketed on the fact that it is produced using a fraction of the greenhouse gas emissions and lower non-renewable energy requirements.