With the completion of its 300,000 t/y bio-succinic acid plant around the corner – the facility is expected to be completed in early 2015 – US renewable chemistry company BioAmber (Plymouth, Minnesota; www.bio-amber.com) has this year signed a number of supply agreements for the facility’s output. After inking deals with PBS producer PTTMCC Biochem (Bangkok / Thailand) – see Plasteurope.com of 08.05.2014 – and Vinmar International (Houston, Texas / USA; www.vinmar.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 09.07.2014 – the bio-feedstock producer has now entered into an exclusive supply agreement with polyester polyols and PU producer Xuchuan Chemical (Taicang, Jiangsu / China; www.chinaxuchuan.com).

The five-year contract will cover the period 2015-2019 and will see BioAmber Sarnia – a joint venture with Mitsui & Co (Tokyo / Japan; www.mitsui.com) – supply Xuchuan’s Suzhou-based production facility with bio-succinic acid produced in Sarnia / Canada.

The Chinese group will initially use the feedstock to manufacture PU systems for cast polyurethane elastomers (CPU), used among others in automotive instruments, power tools, industrial tires and hoses. Tests conducted by the company have shown that in replacing adipic acid with succinic acid, Xuchuan is able to produce CPUs with better properties, including a higher abrasion and scratch resistance as well as a higher resistance to solvents.

BioAmber estimates that under the existing contract, the Chinese group will source about 300-500 t/y of the bio-feedstock. That figure could rise though as Xuchuang is in the midst of broadening its line of bio-succinic acid-based polyester polyols to other applications, too, including shoe soles, coatings and synthetic leather. The long-term sales potential could thus reach several thousand tonnes a year.

Xuchuang purports to be a leading PU resins producer in China, with a nameplate capacity of about 150,000 t/y, spread across four sites in Suzhou, Wenzhou, Lishui and Taicang.