CORRENT

large-scale fermenter could be used to make lysine or valine), the processing that takes place after that — separating out the desired product from the rest of the fermentation, for example — is more product-specific.

“Today, if we want to produce more valine, we need more downstream capacity. It’s the same for tryptophan. So we will invest in this downstream capacity. Indeed, it’s really a capacity increase.”

According to Feedinfo’s Supply & Demand Database, the Amiens plant has a nameplate lysine capacity of 100,000 tonnes/year on a lysine HCl equivalent basis. The plant produces both lysine HCl and liquid lysine, as well as tryptophan and valine.

However, the industrial transformation plan is more than just the increase in specialty amino acid capacity.

The company is also looking at process improvements. These include introducing new METEX technologies to replace previously-used AANE technologies. “For example, there’s a METEX technology for valine production which is more efficient than the one we are implementing now,” Martin says.

Next, there is the company’s attention to the question of decarbonisation. This includes not only reducing the footprint of its own operations, but also about getting serious documentation, validated by third parties, of just how its products compare to those of other origins.

As Martin explains, there are ultimately only a few viable options for reducing the carbon footprint of feed. First, an ingredient has to actually make a significant contribution to that total; and second, there need to be different suppliers offering this ingredient, with significant differences in the carbon footprint between those suppliers. Amino acids made in Europe, he believes, are one of the rare examples at that intersection, allowing a buyer motivated to improve the carbon footprint of a feed operation to do so. Finally, there is portfolio diversification. In the animal nutrition space, this includes an expansion into gut health products for monogastrics based around the functional aspects of amino acids, as well as customised amino acid blends to help customers face their own particular challenges or meet specific objectives (which could be everything from controlling footpad dermatitis to reducing the use of soybean meal).

It should be noted that this industrial transformation project does not just concern animal nutrition products. Indeed, the company is looking to add the first bio-based glycolic acid to its line-up, a product whose main application is in the cosmetics industry.

However, Martin and Corrent are clear that the developments in other areas do not represent a shift in focus away from the animal nutrition industry; they fully expect it to continue to grow and to remain a high priority for investment and other resources.

“We have a strong willingness to be present in animal nutrition,” asserts Corrent. Martin agrees, adding that the cosmetics business “is in addition [to animal nutrition], it’s not instead.”

Adapting To Evolutions In Demand

Of course, 2022 was a remarkably difficult year to be in that business. Beyond the war in Ukraine and the other drivers pushing up the price of energy and raw materials, there were also demand-side factors affecting the bottom lines of companies in the animal nutrition industry. For example, there were the supply chain disruptions of 2021, which had scared many buyers into building up large “just in case” stocks of feed additives, which they were slowly eating their way through in 2022. Moreover, feed consumption was dragged downwards by avian influenza and African swine fever, and prospects were further dampened by China’s zeroCovid policies, which curbed meat consumption in a critical export market.

The takeaway was “an important decrease of demand”. In Corrent’s words, estimates of that decline varied, but approached 15% in some countries. “And some demand will not be recovered,” he acknowledges.

As a consequence, the company has begun adapting its plant in Amiens, making it more flexible and reducing the fixed portion of energy costs. As Martin explains, this helps ensure that when the plant is running at less than full capacity, the equipment can match that, rather than requiring full-scale production levels of energy to run.

“The main reason we are more prepared now is that we have integrated the fact that demand can vary. We used to run full speed at the plant, regardless of the market [situation], and it was more or less the stocks which were buffering the difference. I would say now we are much [more precise] in the way we manage the plant. That will not reduce the price of the energy that we buy, but for us, it was the main thing to address in order to become more resilient.”

By Shannon Behary, senior editor

Your complete view of the global animal nutrition industry