Firms pursue feed ingredients

Swedish specialty chemical maker Perstorp and biobased chemicals firm Metabolic Explorer each plan to make short-chain fatty acids for the animal feed market. Perstorp says it will introduce new feed ingredients, called valerins, which are glycerol esters of valeric acid. The firm, working with university and industry researchers, found that valerins help poultry stay healthy when the disease pathogen Clostridium perfringens is present. Separately, Metabolic Explorer says it will build a facility to make the feed additive butyric acid as well as the cosmetic ingredient 1,3-propanediol. It is looking for an industrial partner to help build the first 6,000-metric-ton-per-year plant for the products.