| Ajinomoto Co., Inc. Ajinomoto Heartland, Inc. June 11, 2002
Building a New Production Facility of Feed grade Threonine and Expanding Feed grade Lysine Plant in USA Ajinomoto will build a new production facility of feed grade Threonine and expand the production capacity of feed grade Lysine at its wholly owned subsidiary Ajinomoto Heartland, Inc. (HQ: Chicago, Illinois; Plant: Eddyville, Iowa) in the United States to meet the rapidly growing demand. The production capacity of feed grade Threonine will be 10,000 tons per year with the capital expenditures of 39 million USD (approximately JPY4.2 billion), of which facility has been completed in the end of May 2002. As for the expansion of feed grade Lysine plant, the annual production capacity will be increased from the current 40,000 tons to 50,000 tons with the capital expenditures of 11 million USD (approximately JPY1.3 billion), of which construction will be completed in July 2002. In combination with feed grade Lysine, the 1st limiting amino acid for swine, the addition of feed grade Threonine, the 2nd limiting amino acid, will enable farmers or feedmills to formulate more nutritionally balanced diets, which will attain better performance of animals with less cost of feeding. Developing the market for feed grade Threonine, centering in the North American market, is no doubt a major business target for AJINOMOTO ANIMAL NUTRITION GROUP in 2002, for which we should invest our resources as the top priority. The latest demand of feed grade Threonine is estimated to be 33,000 tons worldwide with the growth rate at around 20% per year. Ajinomoto Eurolysine S.A.S. (HQ: Paris, France) has been the top supplier with around a 60% share of the market (mostly for the European market), which will double its production capacity of feed grade Threonine from the current 19,000 tons to 35,000 tons with construction scheduled for completion in October 2002. Therefore, together with building a new facility at Ajinomoto Heartland, Inc. AJINOMOTO ANIMAL NUTRITION GROUP will prepare for feed grade Threonine production capability up to 45,000 tons worldwide. AJINOMOTO ANIMAL NUTRITION GROUP will endeavor to further develop feed grade Threonine market which will rapidly be growing, along with feed grade Lysine. The mission of AJINOMOTO ANIMAL NUTRITION is to develop applications for feed-use amino acids that will contribute to the efficient utilization of limited food resources, reduce the environmental impact of intensive animal production and produce healthful, safe and tasty food products. Recently, there is concern that animal agriculture may be contributing to excess nitrogen production in certain areas. Decreasing excessive protein in feed by supplementation of feed grade amino acids is the most effective way because it can significantly reduce nitrogen excretion of animals. In addition to the contribution to the environment, feed grade amino acids play important roles in securing protein supply. By lowering protein levels in feed with the supplementation of feed grade amino acids, the use of expensive protein sources such as soybean meal can be reduced without affecting animal performance. The estimated usage of feed grade Lysine in the world, 600,000 tons per year, corresponds to the saving of 18 million tons of soybean meal, which is equivalent to approximately 15% of the soybean meal production in the world. Feed grade amino acid business is one of the core businesses in Ajinomoto Co., Inc. AJINOMOTO ANIMAL NUTRITION GROUP will pursue further cost-competitiveness and plant investment proactively. AJINOMOTO ANIMAL NUTRITION GROUP will continue to guarantee as a global market leader a stable supply of high-quality feed grade amino acid products and offer customer services tailored to each region in 6 global production and sales bases in France, Italy, USA, Thailand, China and Brazil to support customers worldwide. [REFERENCE] 1. What is AJINOMOTO ANIMAL NUTRITION?
AJINOMOTO ANIMAL NUTRITION group2. Profile of Ajinomoto Heartland, Inc. 3. Profile of Eddyville Plant of Ajinomoto Heartland, Inc.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CLOSE |