PURE.L Regulatory News (PURE)

27 Apr 2009 07:02



PureCircle Limited

("PureCircle" or "the Company")

Successful Completion of World's largest Stevia Extract Plant Expansion 

London: 27 April 2009

PureCircle (LSE:PURE), the world's leading producer of Natural High Intensity Sweeteners, including Reb A ('NHIS'), is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed on schedule the major expansion of its extraction plant complex in Jiangxi province, south eastern China.

The upgrade programme, which included the quadrupling of stevia extract capacity from 1,000 Metric Tonnes per annum to 4,000 Metric Tonnes per annum, ensures that the Jiangxi plant continues, by some distance, to be the largest stevia extract factory in the world.

The expansion also incorporates next generation process improvements that will further enhance the environmental efficiency of the high purity Reb A global supply chain and deliver major productivity benefits to PureCircle.  

Specifically the expansion and upgrade programme covers a 20 hectare site and includes:

- Extensive water re-cycling and treatment facilities to ensure that all water used in the stevia extract processes will be returned to the environment in the same good quality it was initially consumed;

- Major new warehousing to part accommodate the stevia leaf throughput of over 50,000 metric tonnes a year needed to run the factory to capacity

- A purpose built, state of the art, bio-mass energy facility that will convert a high proportion of the waste leaf into a natural source of electricity for the local community

- An additional factory that converts all residual leaf waste into natural animal food and fertiliser products.

- Extra land area for future capacity expansion.

Within the larger new stevia extract factory are numerous process improvements that build on PureCircle's global leadership in this field. Management believe that PureCircle's combination of scale and process leadership enable PureCircle to be the industry low cost supplier globally.

In addition the project incorporates new housing facilities for 400 employees, providing further benefits to the local community.

Overall the expansion programme has taken almost two years to complete and has cost US $32m. This is in line with the project plans and has been funded fully from internal resources, which is a measure of the strength of the PureCircle balance sheet.   

Separately, the doubling of the Group's annual high purity Reb A refining capacity from 1,000 Metric Tonnes to 2,000 Metric Tonnes at its state-of-the-art refinery in Malaysia is progressing on schedule and is expected to be completed by the end of the calendar year. 

Magomet Malsogov, Managing Director, of PureCircle, commented:

"The major expansions at both our stevia extract complex and our high purity Reb A refinery provides considerable additional capacity to meet the fast growing demand from our customers. The expansion also further consolidates our global leadership in the industry. We are the world's low cost producer and our technologies enable us to produce in the most environmentally efficient manner."

ENDS

For further information please visit the company website: www.purecircle.com