BASF discontinues lysine business
Lysine production in Gunsan, South Korea, to be shut down
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BASF is discontinuing its lysine business and will shut down its pro-duction facility in Gunsan, South Korea, by mid-2007 to concentrate on its non-amino acids business. Lysine is the only amino acid in BASF's nutrition portfolio.
Over the last three years, BASF undertook an intensive cost reduction program at the Gunsan site. However, due to rising raw material costs, overcapacities and a high dependency on exports, the business is no longer sustainable, according to BASF. The Gunsan site has a current capacity for lysine of around 100,000 metric tons per year.
About 180 people work at the Gunsan site. BASF is in regular contact with employee representatives, and will immediately start negotiations on the situation arising from the shutdown of the lysine plant.
The closure is part of the ongoing restructuring program of BASF's fine chemicals business, initiated in January 2006. Among other measures, this program includes the merging of the human nutrition and animal nutrition businesses into one Nutrition unit as of November 2006 and the divestment of the global premix business. In February 2007, BASF sold a major part of its premix business to a Dutch company, Nutreco.
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