Abstract
The recent news that DSM and Roquette are dissolving their succinic acid joint venture may be the final chapter for a product that was once going to change the chemical industry but turned out to be an expensive disappointment. The joint venture, Reverdia, is one of four projects launched about a decade ago to make succinic acid from biomass. Chemical companies have long synthesized the four-carbon carboxylic acid in modest amounts as an intermediate for dyes and pharmaceuticals. The goal of the new projects was to use biotechnology to ferment carbohydrates into succinic acid at a cost low enough to open up large-volume polymer markets. BioAmber may have been the most ambitious of the projects. The company raised about $80 million in a 2013 stock offering and put the funds into building a succinic acid plant in Sarnia, Ontario. However, saddled with a heavy debt load and few customers, it
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