Hayashibara Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shimoishii, Kita-ku, Okayama; President: Naoki Yasuba), a NAGASE Group company, announced today that it had begun construction of a new facility to produce Pullulan and various enzymes at Okayama Plant II (Imabo, Kita-ku, Okayama) on February 1, 2019.
The current facility (current P Facility) was built in 1976 and produces Pullulan and various enzymes.
Pullulan is a natural polysaccharide which is fermented by black yeast (a strain of filamentous fungus) from starch. Pullulan’s adhesiveness, thickening, film forming, formability and other properties are mainly used in a wide range of applications such as food adhesives, thickeners, quality improvement, and capsule manufacture.
Enzymes are proteins which are produced by microorganisms and are used in our plants to produce various kinds of carbohydrates from starch.
Against the background of a long-term partnership agreement that we signed with Lonza Ltd. last year, the new Pullulan and enzyme facility (new P Facility) will handle future demand increase as well as manufacturing of new products, in addition to providing stable supply of products. The new facility will be built between the maltose facility (M Facility) and the current P Facility at Okayama Plant II.
The new facility will incorporate our many years of Pullulan and enzyme manufacturing know-how plus the latest manufacturing equipment and energy-saving equipment. This will further strengthen our product competitiveness.
The investment is approximately 7.5 billion yen and completion of construction is scheduled for September 2020.
After completion of the new P Facility, the current P Facility will be sequentially demolished.
*Added on July 15, 2020...The following corrections have been made to make it more accurate.
yeast → black yeast (a strain of filamentous fungus)
【Construction Overview】
Location | 578 Imabo, Kita-ku, Okayama |
|---|---|
Building overview | 6 floors, steel-frame construction |
Construction period | February 1, 2019 to September 2020 |
Construction company | Hitachi Plant Services Co., Ltd. |
Total investment | Approximately 7.5 billion yen |
