UPM Biochemicals said Oct. 17 it has selected a distributor to supply customers in Korea with its bio-based monoethylene glycol (MEG) product.
Dongsung Chemical will be the sole distributor of UPM’s bio-monoethylene glycol (BioMEG) UPM BioPura in Korea.
Through this partnership, UPM will access the large and attractive Korean MEG market with a size of roughly two thirds of the European Union’s MEG market. UPM Biochemicals has already established various industry partnerships across the automotive, fashion and packaging industry.
“Expanding the partnership with Dongsung Chemical is another major milestone in bringing our renewable chemicals to market and in establishing an entirely new category of high value sustainable chemicals,” says Michael Duetsch, vice president of biochemicals at UPM. “We will continue to collaborate in the development of alternative solutions for a large variety of customer segments in the Asian shoe and textile markets.
UPM is building an industrial-scale biorefinery in Leuna, Germany. The facility will convert sustainably sourced, certified hardwood into biochemicals. The Leuna biorefinery is part of a broader growth area, UPM Biorefining, focused on scaling refineries producing a variety of renewable fuels and chemicals made from sustainable biomass.
UPM's BioMEG BioPura is produced from hardwood obtained from forests in the regions around Leuna in Germany. The biomass does not compete with food resources, UPM says.
