GFBiochemicals starts production of levulinic acid

Biobased chemical company GFBiochemicals has started commercial production at its 10,000t/yr capacity levulinic acid plant in Caserta, Italy.
The announcement was made at the BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology, Montreal. GFBiochemicals is the first company to produce levulinic acid at commercial scale directly from biomass.
"Caserta is now the world’s largest operational production plant for levulinic acid,” said Chief Commercial Officer, Marcel van Berkel.
"A fundamentally lower price range is now possible using our unique technology. This will give access to
previously undiscovered market segments.”
CEO Maxim Katinov said: "GFBiochemicals has successfully achieved a substantial milestone – the start-up of commercial-scale production.
I would like to praise and thank our engineering and R&D teams, who have clearly demonstrated the company’s ability to deliver results
on schedule.”