Summary: In Nov., the EIA statement of EPPEN Biotech's 20,000 t/a food-grade erythritol project was accepted and publicised and other new erythritol projects of other firms are advancing as schedule.

On 19 Nov., the environmental impact assessment (EIA) statement of Ningxia EPPEN Biotech Co., Ltd. (EPPEN Biotech)'s 20,000 t/a food-grade erythritol project was accepted and publicised by local authority in Yongning County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. This project was registered earlier on 2 Sept.

Project overview

• Construction nature: Technological transformation
• Location: The established plant, Area B of EPPEN Biotech, Yanghe Town, Yongning County, Yinchuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region
• Floor area: 13,857 m²
• Total investment: USD22.45 million (RMB141.12 million) including USD0.32 million (RMB2.07 million) for environment protection project
• Construction content: Technological transformation of the orginal 80,000 t/a lysine production line to food-grade erythritol production line; new equipment such as nanofiltration (NF) membrane, ion exchange (IX) system, multi-effect evaporator, chiller unit
• Working system: 82 current employers working in three shifts per day for 330 days per year
• Scheduled capacity: 20,000 t/a of erythritol

EPPEN Biotech plans to established erythritol production based on its production lines in lysine production workshop that were producing 80,000 t/a of lysine previously before being shut down. Once the project construction completes, the company plans to use self-produced glucose as main materials and adopt anaerobic fermentation process, traditional membrane separation method, and combination process with evaporative crystallization and centrifugal separation to produce 20,000 t/a of erythritol. The project will operate in the production scale of no higher than the original one (80,000 t/a of lysine) and will not generate new pollution.

Founded in 1999 with a registered capital of USD76.56 million (RMB491.52 million), EPPEN Biotech manufactures a wide variety of amino acids (monosodium glutamate (MSG), lysine, threonine, tryptophan, valine, etc.).

Meanwhile, other manufacturers have carried out their erythritol production projects.

• On 28 Oct., Shandong Food Ferment Industry Research & Design Institute posted on its office website that Anhui BBCA Likang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (BBCA Likang) received a successful trial run of its 20,000 t/a erythritol project which was supported by the "Production Technique of Erythritol via Fermentation Method" developed by the Food Ferment Industry Institute.
• On 11 Nov., the EIA report of the erythritol project of Shandong Qiantai Biotechnology Co., Ltd. was accepted and publicised by the Ecology and Environment Bureau of Jinan City. This project plans to set up a 500 t/a erythritol production line and the constructions will take up a total area of 2369.06 m².
• On 15 Nov., Zhejiang Huakang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. released the Investor Relations Activity Record Sheet indicating its 30,000 t/a high purity erythritol project is under construction and will enter production by May 2022.