Lysine supply to be hit by BASF plant closure

BASF has announced that later this summer it will temporarily suspend production of the amino acid lysine at its facility in Gunsan, Korea, due to essential maintenance work.

The firm said the lysine plant will be shutdown at the beginning of August for up to three weeks. Lysine is an essential amino acid used in nutritional applications, as well as in parenterals, biochemical and nutritional research and as an ingredient in culture media.

"Demand for lysine has been persistently high in 2003, above all in Asia, and this has led to low stock levels. As a result, availability is likely to be affected during and several weeks after the overhaul​," said the company in a statement.

In 2002, about 500,000 metric tons of lysine were sold at a market value of approximately €825 million. BASF's Fine Chemicals division is one of the world's largest manufacturers of the amino acid with an annual capacity of 90,000 tons.