AFYREN Inaugurates Its First Factory, AFYREN NEOXY, a First-of-its-kind Biorefinery

Regulatory News:

AFYREN (Paris:ALAFY), a greentech company that offers manufacturers bio-based, low-carbon ingredients produced using unique fermentation technology based on a completely circular model, is inaugurating its first large-scale plant, AFYREN NEOXY, in Carling Saint-Avold (Grand Est, Moselle, France) on the Chemesis industrial platform.

A factory that came online within its deadline and budget

After the start of construction in December 2020, major milestones included obtaining the operating permit, completion of civil engineering work, construction of the plant and the gradual industrial commissioning of its various units. All told, it only took 20 months for AFYREN NEOXY to open its doors, on September 29, 2022.

Perfectly operational and secure, the biorefinery has reached production start-up phase in the 2022 calendar year, as announced. AFYREN plans to gradually increase volumes to produce 16,000 metric tons of carboxylic acids within two years, a world first. At this stage, 70% of AFYREN NEOXY's target production of organic acids has already been pre-sold.

Nicolas SORDET, CEO of AFYREN: “The inauguration of this first industrial unit on time and on budget, despite the health crisis, is a tribute to all the efforts made to keep to the schedule we had set for ourselves. On behalf of AFYREN, I would also like to thank all our partners who have supported our project and enabled us to meet our objectives for growth.”

A strategic location

Thanks to its location in the center of the European beet-producing basin, AFYREN NEOXY has been able to commit to respecting short supply chains through a contract that provides for the delivery of co-products from sugar-beet crops located within a maximum radius of a few hundred kilometers from the factory.

As it is close to its main customers in Northern and Eastern France, the Benelux countries and Germany, the plant can offer secure, low-carbon delivery to its partners.

Jean Saint Donat, President of AFYREN NEOXY: "This inauguration is the concrete expression of AFYREN's ambition: to decarbonize chemical production on a large scale while maintaining a local approach. Our location in the Grand Est region allows us to ideally reconcile our regional presence with international scope."