Genencor moves forward in China

The Danisco subsidiary says that China is a key growth for the industrial enzyme market and by establishing the new facility, the company reinforces its commitment to continue to invest resources to support the growing customer base in this region

21/09/05 Danisco's wholly owned subsidiary, Genencor International, Inc., has broken new ground today on a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in the Wuxi New High-Tech Industrial Park in China. The facility, scheduled to be operational in late 2006, will serve as the production, technical, applications and service hub for the Danisco Genencor Division in China and the Asia Pacific region.

Approximately 200 people attended a groundbreaking ceremony at the site, including Danisco Genencor officials, key customers, suppliers and Chinese dignitaries. H.R.H. the Prince Consort of Denmark, the Danish Ambassador to China and the Danish Consul General to Shanghai also attended the event.

'China is a key growth area for the industrial enzyme market and by establishing this new facility, we reinforce our commitment to continue to invest resources to support the growing customer base in this region,' said Robert Mayer, CEO of Genencor. 'With the expansion of our global production capacity and capability in China, customers will continue to receive high quality and cutting-edge technologies, products and services from Danisco Genencor.'

The new 20,000 square meter facility is part of the company’s overall plan to meet regional customer demand and to expand into the rapidly growing Asian market. The site will feature significant fermentation capacity to produce a wide range of enzyme products for the Danisco Genencor Division’s portfolio. For instance enzymes to produce wrinkle free textiles and jeans which look stone washed.

'We looked at many sites and decided to locate in the Wuxi New High-Tech Park, a Chinese national-level development area, which offers many advantages as it is strategically positioned and has excellent infrastructure,' said Carole Cobb, Senior Vice President, Global Supply for Genencor.
'The site also offers the opportunity to retain our current trained workforce and enhance the skill base when needed from the abundance of qualified personnel from the many surrounding universities.'