FMC breaks ground on microcrystalline cellulose facility in Thailand

US-based chemical company FMC has broken ground on a $100m microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) manufacturing facility in Rayong, Thailand.

The investment is part of the company’s strategy to supply its MCC to the Asian market.

The new facility, which is the company’s third MCC manufacturing plant, is expected to go onstream in late 2014 and will feature MCC production, blending, packaging and warehousing capabilities.

Initially, the plant will manufacture colloidal MCC, which is used as a key ingredient in food and beverages.

The facility’s design will facilitate future volume expansion and the manufacture of different product lines for the food and pharmaceutical industries.

The plant, which will incorporate FMC’s standards of safety and environmental protection, has been recognised for its sustainability efforts by the Thailand National Innovation Agency, according to the company.

FMC BioPolymer vice president and global business director Mike Smith said the facility will help meet the growing demand for innovative food and beverage products in Asia.

"This state-of-the-art site, which increases our global MCC capacity for the food industry by 35%, will allow us to more easily and quickly supply the Asian marketplace with our MCC products and the tailored blends we deliver to meet customer needs."

FMC Specialty Chemicals president Michael Wilson said, "Our new advanced food laboratory at the FMC Singapore Technical Center, which opened last year, along with the company’s new Asia Innovation Center in Shanghai, scheduled to open late this year, plus this new manufacturing facility, are all symbols of our long-term commitment to support our growing customer base in this region."

Recently, FMC completed expansion at its BioPolymer MCC sites in Newark, Delaware, US, and Cork, Ireland.

FMC is also investing to expand its line of food ingredients with the recent acquisitions of natural colours and pectin companies.

FMC is a diversified chemical company providing services to agricultural, industrial, environmental and consumer markets across the world.

MCC is a refined wood pulp which is used as a fat substitute, an anti-caking agent, a texturiser, an emulsifier, an extender, and a bulking agent in food production.

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Image: FMC’s new microcrystalline cellulose facility in Thailand will increase the company’s global MCC capacity for the food industry by 35%. Photo courtesy of PRNewsFoto/FMC Corporation.