Bayer CropScience plans $200-mn crop protection chemicals plants in US

Bayer CropScience is planning to set up two chemical units at Mobile, Alabama (USA), for manufacturing precursor materials used in the production of Liberty herbicide, a key component in Bayer’s innovative LibertyLink weed management technology.
 
The project, representing an overall investment of more than $200 million, will be a joint effort between Bayer CropScience and Evonik Industries, with the production to be situated at the Evonik manufacturing facility in the Theodore Industrial Park in Mobile County. Evonik will take responsibility for constructing one of the units and Bayer the other, with the resulting intermediate from the combined manufacturing being used in the production of Liberty.
 
Michael van Nooy, head of global active ingredient operations for Bayer CropScience, said, “Bayer looks forward to the cooperative effort with Evonik in bringing the project to fruition. Combining the expertise, resources and experience that both companies possess allows us to achieve our objective in the most timely, efficient and cost-effective, as well as safest, manner possible."
 
Globally, Bayer is in the process of doubling its Liberty herbicide production capacity. Construction of the two production units is expected to take approximately two years to complete, with the start-up of production beginning in mid-2017.