DuPont, Glory Team To Produce Bio-Based DuPont™ Sorona®

DuPont, Wilmington, Del., has partnered with China-based Zhangjiagang Glory Chemical Industry Co. Ltd. to establish the first production and distribution operation in Asia for bio-based DuPont™ Sorona® polymer.

Glory, formed earlier this year, is building a continuous polymerization facility expressly to manufacture Sorona polymer using technology licensed from DuPont and Bio-PDO™ - 1,3 propanediol derived from corn sugar - from Loudon, Tenn.-based DuPont Tate & Lyle BioProducts. The Jiangsu province-based, 66 million-pound-capacity facility is expected to begin production before the end of this year, with the first commercial product available in the second quarter of 2007.

"After screening over a dozen firms, we found that [Han Bin, president, Glory] and his team were best positioned to be a strategic partner with DuPont, based on their impressive operating experience, attention to quality and desire to be involved in every step of product commercialization," said Peter Hemken, vice president and general manager, DuPont Bio-Based Materials - Sorona and Bio-PDO. "We believe our partnership with Glory will help us expand our business on a global level and incorporate new thinking and experience into the Sorona brand. There currently is a very strong supply chain in Asia, and this partnership will help us shorten the time to market by having polymer, fiber, fabric and garmets all created in one region."

November/December 2006

 

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