US sugar shaker looks at city base

A MAJOR international company turning sugar cane into high- end make- up and perfume is considering Townsville as the site for a new factory which would pump millions of dollars into the economy and create much- needed jobs.

Amyris – a business that specialises in transforming sugar cane into a sustainable product used in everything from vitamins to perfumes and cosmetics, replacing an ingredient otherwise sourced from sharks – will announce today it will build a new biorefinery in Queensland.

It plans to use the state as a launch pad into Asia.

The exact site is yet to be determined, with a feasibility study to be completed within the next three to six months, but regional centres that could be in the running include Townsville, Mackay and Bundaberg.

The deal was reached following negotiations between the state and Amyris with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk meeting with the company in San Diego yesterday.

She said the Amyris biorefinery would create at least 70 direct jobs alone and would help kickstart a new bioindustry in the state that could rival the growing biofuels industry already tipped to eventually pour $ 1 billion into the Queensland economy.

“The company’s proposed biorefinery would aim to produce 23,000 tonnes a year of a sugar cane- based ingredient called farnesene which is used in a range of products, including cosmetics, fragrances, nutraceuticals, polymers, and lubricants.”

Amyris CEO John Melo said Queensland was the perfect place to base its new factory with supply agreements already in place.

He said about one- third of all skincare products and perfumes included an ingredient converted from sugar cane.