Sumitomo’s new methionine facility
Sumitomo Chemical Corp. (Tokyo; www.sumitomo-chem.co.jp) held a completion ceremony for its new production line for feed-additive methionine at its Ehime Works in Niihama City, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. The amount of investment in the new manufacturing facility represents one of the largest ever made in Japan by the company. Following several trial runs, the new line will start commercial production soon. The ceremony to celebrate the completion of the new plant was attended by a large number of distinguished guests, including Tokihiro Nakamura, Governor of Ehime Prefecture, Kastuyuki Ishikawa, Mayor of Niihama City, and representatives from construction companies involved in the project.
The production capacity of the new line is approximately 100,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr), which brings Sumitomo Chemical’s total production capacity for methionine to approximately 250,000 m.t./yr, including existing facilities. In order to realize swift sales expansion after the production capacity increase, Sumitomo Chemical Group has already reinforced marketing/sales capabilities globally with its worldwide sales network established. Furthermore, the company entered into a methionine distribution collaboration with ITOCHU Corporation in April 2017, and premarketing activities conducted under the collaborative scheme has been in solid progress as planned.