Timeless Savannah to be Site of $100 million High Purity Sterol Plant

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). In August 2001, Arizona Chemical (Jacksonville, Florida) and the Harting Group (Santiago, Chile) formed the joint venture Arboris, LLC to manufacture high purity pine sterols for the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical markets. Arboris is making final planning stages prior to starting construction of its first manufacturing plant in Savannah, Georgia. The new plant will utilize advanced technology developed by Harting, who was formerly in a sterol joint venture with Rasio.

Arboris is claiming the new sterol plant will be the world's largest and they're betting that the demand for plant sterols will outstrip available supply. Plant sterols, which have cholesterol-reducing properties, can be used in foods, such as margarine. The relationship of all the involved companies makes a perfect sense when it is realized that phytosterols are present in the pine trees that Arizona Chemical's parent company, International Paper raises and harvests across the southeastern U.S. and can also be found in crude tall oil, of which Arizona Chemical is the leading processor in the U.S. and Europe. Harting brought a proven sterol recovery process, featuring both product purity and cost efficiency to the table.

Savannah was selected as the site of the $100 million plant for reasons including its being a major hub for ocean, rail, road and air transportation and having a diversified workforce, as well as being home to Arizona Chemical's largest crude tall oil refinery in the world. Construction is planned to start later this year and have an initial start-up in mid-2004. Arizona Chemical will staff the new plant under contract to Arboris.

The engineering contractor for the project is Mustang Tampa (Tampa, Florida). Arizona Chemical and Arboris, LLC formed a team to manage construction.

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