Amyris to partner with small sugarcane farmers to produce farnesene

Amyris Inc., a U.S.-based integrated renewable products company, has redesigned its strategy and will now manufacture chemical specialties from farnesene obtained from sugarcane. Furthermore, the company will no longer seek large sugarcane agribusinesses as partners and will instead focus on smaller businesses, particularly those found at Usina Paraiso, Brotas, in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
The company has already formed a joint venture with Sao Martinho, a sugar and ethanol manufacturer in Sao Paolo. The joint venture, SMA Industria Quimica, is scheduled to begin operations together with the plant of Usina Paraiso Bioenergia in early 2013, with a capacity of 50 million liters of farnesene. Investment in the joint venture is BRL$52 million (US$25.5 million). Out of the total investment, BRL$22 million (US$10.8 million) was funded by the development bank BNDES.
The plant is smaller than the plant being erected by Brazil’s SMA at Pradopolis, a municipality in Sao Paolo, which has a capacity of 100 million liters per year. However, this plant has been delayed due to scale-up difficulties at other plants, U.S.-based Amyris announced recently. Initially the plant was scheduled to start operations in mid-2012, with the date now delayed by two years. (August 23, 2012)