Led · Debt Financing · May 2024

NatureWorks produces Ingeo PLA biopolymers made from renewable resources for use across plastics, fibers, 3D printing, nonwovens and compostable packaging. The company is building a fully integrated Ingeo PLA manufacturing complex at the Nakhon Sawan Biocomplex in Thailand that will include lactic acid, lactide and polymer production. The new facility is designed for an annual capacity of 75,000 tons and to supply the full portfolio of Ingeo grades. Feedstock for the site will be sugarcane sourced from farms within a 50 km radius of the plant. Construction is on track to support start-up activities and full production in 2025. NatureWorks frames the project as expanding international customer access across the Asia Pacific bioeconomy while aligning with ESG principles and Thailand’s Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) economic model. NatureWorks produces Ingeo™, a family of commercially available biopolymers made from 100 percent annually renewable plant resources for plastics and fibers markets. The company reports a current Ingeo capacity of 140,000 tons and has seen steady 25–30% annual increases in product demand. In the last two years NatureWorks doubled Ingeo supply availability by bringing additional capacity online at its Blair, Neb., processing facility. More than 100 consumer brands and retailers across the U.S., Europe and Asia offer Ingeo-based products in packaging, food service-ware, apparel, textiles and personal care. NatureWorks has plans to globalize its Ingeo manufacturing by building a new production facility in Thailand to support its Asian customer base and diversify renewable feedstock sourcing, with the plant anticipated to come online in 2015. Until now the company has been wholly owned by Cargill; PTT Chemical’s investment is subject to regulatory approval.