Lonza Opens Vitamin K3 Plant in Canada

03/12/07 Lonza has opened its newly acquired plant in Shawinigan, Canada. The plant is dedicated to the production of Pro-K, which is a new addition to Lonza’s nutrition portfolio. The plant just successfully passed its ISO-9001-2000 and FAMI-QS certification audit on November 27th 2007.

The opening of the Shawinigan facility marks not only the inauguration of a state-of-the-art production site but also the introduction of the new trademark Pro-K. Lonza acquired the assets in Shawinigan (previously S.A.M. Electron Technologies) in May 2007 to support the continued growth of its animal nutrition business.

This vitamin K3 manufacturing in Canada, along with the existing production facilities for Niacin, Niacinamide, L-Carnitine (Carniking) and Arabinogalactan (LaraFeed) in Switzerland, China, Czech Republic and USA, strengthens LONZA’s position as a supplier of choice to the animal feed industry.

Roman Quinter, Head of Lonza’s Nutrition Business Unit, commented at the opening ceremony: "We are excited to have Pro-K in our portfolio and we will provide to our customers a quality product at competitive terms. This acquisition demonstrates our long-term commitment for Pro-KTM. We are proud to have established a new ecological standard for the production of vitamin K3.”

Lonza manufactures the vitamin K3 by a unique process referred to as the CeTECH process, for which Lonza possesses the exclusive worldwide license. CeTECH is an electrochemical cerium based oxidation technology, recognized by ICIS as the best process innovation of 2005. This advanced technology is a cleaner and more environmentally friendly process, which unlike most current vitamin K3 manufacturing processes, avoids the use of chromium as the oxidizing agent and eliminates the production of chromium by-products.

Lonza’s Shawinigan plant currently employs 20 employees. The operation is designed for a production capacity of 400 metric tons per year.

Vitamin K3 or Menadione is a fat soluble synthetic vitamin used in animal nutrition. Vitamin K is well known in the context of blood clotting and coagulation. This coagulation process prevents excessive blood loss due to cuts or injuries. Vitamin K has also been shown to act as a coenzyme in other metabolic processes related to bone mineralization, protein formation and some specific cell growth.