Summary: The Ecological Environment Bureau of Haicang District, Xiamen City accepted and publicised the EI report of Kingdomway Vitamin's "vitamin A derivatives and lipoic acid series products project" (publication draft) on 19 June.

On 19 June, the Ecological Environment Bureau of Haicang District, Xiamen City accepted the EI report of "vitamin A derivatives and lipoic acid series products project" (publication draft) that was submitted by Xiamen Kingdomway Vitamin Co., Ltd. (Kingdomway Vitamin). The EI report was publicised until 3 July. Previously, the project's EI report (draft for soliciting public opinions) was publicised in late Dec. 2022. (For more information, please refer to CCM Vitamins China E-News 202301: Kingdomway Vitamin: EI report of VA derivatives and lipoic acid series project publicised.) Certain alterations were made in the publication draft, compared to the draft for soliciting public opinions.

Project overview (from publication draft)

• Total investment: USD25.09 million (RMB181.04 million)
• Type of project: Reconstruction and expansion (alteration)
• Construction site location: Kingdomway Vitamin's Factory Compound, Haicang District, Xiamen City, Fujian Province
• Construction details:
• Production workshop(s) will be built within the existing factory building, instead of occupying new land. Inside the production workshop(s), five production lines for vitamin A derivatives (one for canthaxanthin crystal, one for canthaxanthin powder and three for microcapsule powder) and a production line for lipoic acid and its derivatives will be built.
• A laboratory will be settled in the existing office building, where the R&D experiments in esterification of cholesterol, hydrazone reaction of 7-Ketocholesterol acetate, crystallisation of 7-Dehydrocholesterol, analysis & testing, preparing of 4-Hydroxy-2-butanone, crystallisation of vitamin D3, and preparing of condensation compound of vitamin A intermediate C20 will be conducted. (alteration)
• Some of the environmental protection facilities needed in this project will be newly built. This project will use the existing supporting and public facilities as well as warehousing and shipping facilities.
• Number of budgeted posts: 158
• Annual production time: 330 days
• Construction period: June 2023–Nov. 2024 (alteration)

Production process

• Canthaxanthin crystal: Vitamin A crystal mother liquor, the raw material, undergoes saponification reaction in order to acquire vitamin A alcohol. Vitamin A alcohol then undergoes serial reactions that include salification, in order to acquire β-Carotene. In the end, β-Carotene goes through serial reactions that include oxidation, so as to produce the final product.
• Canthaxanthin powder and microcapsule powder: Canthaxanthin crystal or vitamin powder are added with raw and auxiliary materials like gelatine and glucose. The resulting material then undergoes emulsification and drying, so as to produce the final product.
• Lipoic acid: Adipic acid and ethanol, the raw materials, undergo serial reactions that include mono-esterification in order to acquire ethyl 6,8-dichlorooctanoate. Ethyl 6,8-dichlorooctanoate then undergoes serial reactions that include thionation, so as to produce the final product.

Wholly owned by Xiamen Kingdomway Group Company Limited (Kingdomway), Kingdomway Vitamin has a fully-operational "800 t/a vitamin A oil and 200 t/a vitamin D3 oil project", a project resulting from the relocation of the company's old factory compound in Xinchang Road, Haicang District. In Aug. 2022, the environmental protection facilities of this project passed the post-completion acceptance inspection that was conducted by the company itself. The project now delivers the following production capacity: 800 t/a for vitamin A oil (downstream products: 60 t/a for food-grade vitamin A crystal, 200 t/a for vitamin A palmitate and 2,500 t/a for vitamin A powder); 200 t/a for vitamin D3 oil (downstream products: 2.2 t/a for vitamin D3 crystal and 1,500 t/a for vitamin D3 powder).

In Kingdomway's annual report of 2022 results, it was stated that after Kingdomway Vitamin's relocation was completed, its production processes and devices had been under continuous optimisation, and efficient measures of personnel management had been taken; therefore, the technical levels of most of the production processes had become comparable to that prior to relocation; the sales volume of vitamin A series products totalled 3,278,438.78 kg in 2022, up 21.85% YoY.

The production of vitamin A derivatives in "vitamin A derivatives and lipoic acid series products project" can help recycle vitamin A crystal mother liquor, which is generated by the company's another production line in the factory compound; a self-developed production process featuring the use of vitamin A crystal mother liquor as the raw material will be applied. A chemical compound belonging to B vitamins, lipoic acid, along with its derivatives, has been extensively applied in the production of health care products and pharmaceutical industry. The production of lipoic acid series products in "vitamin A derivatives and lipoic acid series products project" applies the self-developed process that uses adipic acid as one of the raw materials. Said production process incorporates enzyme catalysis as a key step as well as features an efficient and green route, boasting a competitive edge.