Kaneka completes CoQ10 expansion in Japan
its new facility in Japan, easing restricted supplies of the
supplement that continues to be popular around the world.
The firm has added capacity of 30 tons at its plant in Taksago, Japan, giving it an annual production capacity of 180 metric tons.
The company is also expanding in the US, thought to account for up to two thirds of global demand, with a new 100 ton plant under construction in Pasadena, Texas.
Phase I construction at the US plant has been affected by two recent hurricanes but is expected to be completed by the summer of 2006, said Kaneka in a statement.
Additional capacity will help the leading CoQ10 maker meet the strong increase in consumption of the vitamin-like antioxidant, which has surged in recent years. The boom was initially triggered by a study showing its benefit to Parkinson's patients but since then regulatory changes opening up its use in food supplements in Japan and new food and cosmetic applications in several international markets have continued to create shortages of raw material.
Kaneka had already doubled capacity at its Japanese plant during 2004 and in its statement issued just before Christmas it revealed that it is planning "further expansion of its CoQ10 production capacity in both of its US and Japanese facilities".
