Total Investment of 2.1 Billion RMB! Cargill and BASF Build the World's Largest Bio-Based BDO Plant

Qore, a joint venture between Cargill and Germany’s HELM AG, announced today that its bio-based 1,4-butanediol (BDO) facility in Iowa, USA has officially begun operations.

This $300 million (approximately 2.1 billion RMB) mega plant has an annual production capacity of 66,000 tons under the brand name QIRA. The feedstock comes entirely from dent corn grown within a 100-mile radius of the facility, making it the world’s largest bio-based BDO monomer plant by capacity.

A “Green Replacement” for a Key Chemical Raw Material

BDO is known as the “universal plug” of the chemical industry, with downstream applications in spandex, pharmaceuticals, fragrances, and biodegradable plastics. Traditionally reliant on petroleum, Qore uses a biotechnological route—corn → sugar → succinic acid → BDO—through a coupled fermentation-hydrogenation process to produce a sustainable alternative chemically identical to petro-based BDO.

BASF and LYCRA Among First Signatories

• Textile giant LYCRA announced it will use QIRA to produce low-carbon spandex, expecting to reduce carbon emissions by 44% per ton.
• Chemical leader BASF signed a long-term agreement with Qore, incorporating QIRA into its sustainable chemicals portfolio.

Global Competition Accelerates

Beyond Qore, several global players are entering the bio-based BDO race:

• International: Novamont (Italy), Genomatica (USA), BASF (Germany)
• China: Kingfa Sci. & Tech., Yuanli Chemical, among others, are planning multi-thousand-ton facilities.

As carbon reduction pressures from policies and brands intensify, corn-based BDO is rapidly replacing petroleum-based products—ushering in a wave of cross-industry green transformation.