Plant in Zeitz produces 1 million litres daily
Mannheim, 25 March 2020 - CropEnergies AG, Mannheim, is not only the largest European producer of sustainably produced technical ethanol (alcohol), but also a producer of specially purified, drinkable neutral alcohol for pharmaceutical applications, cosmetics or beverages.
As the production of neutral alcohol is reaching the limits of its capacity throughout Europe, CropEnergies is expanding the production volumes as far as technically possible and is also asking customers outside the disinfection market to make arrangements in the current situation. "Numerous customers are willing to do this so that we can supply the pharmaceutical industry. We are very grateful for this. Health comes first," says Joachim Lutz, Chief Executive Officer of CropEnergies AG. Against the background of supply bottlenecks for neutral alcohol, the German authorities have, as in France and Austria, also approved technical alcohol for use in disinfectants, subject to certain quality requirements. The technical alcohol produced by CropEnergies meets these quality requirements and is therefore suitable as a basic ingredient in disinfectants. "We are pleased that the authorities reacted quickly and implemented these legal simplifications at short notice," says Lutz. "This means that sufficient quantities of technical alcohol are now available as a main component for the production of disinfectants which are urgently needed in the German health system, for example in hospitals or doctors' practices."
At the Zeitz location alone, CropEnergies AG currently produces about 1 million litres of alcohol a day, enough to close the current supply gap.