Company to make chemicals from maize cobs

Maize cob factory

A local investor has set up a manufacturing company that will use maize cobs as raw material to produce various chemicals for industrial use.

Bio-Corn Products EPZ, a subsidiary of Nairobi-based manufacturing firm ISONS Group, is set to produce a specialty chemical known as furfural, which is used as a solvent in refining of lubricating oils, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, resins and plastics.

The chemical also serves as a pesticide and weed killer.

Based in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County, the factory is expected to be a major boost to maize farmers who can now earn from the cobs, which often end up as waste or domestic fuel.

ISONS, which purchased Kenya Furfural Company plant from its receiver managers Ernst & Young, commissioned the plant last week.

Bio-Corn Products Chief Executive Ashite Patel said furfural is also a crucial ingredient in the cracking process of crude oil. It is also an eco-friendly additive to rocket fuel.

Sustainable income

The plant is expected to begin production in October this year.

“This is a high-impact business that will contribute significantly to the Kenyan economy in terms of GDP contribution and generating sustainable income for thousands more low-income individuals such as farmers, allowing them to commercialise on the cob - which would otherwise be waste,” said Mr Patel.

Safe pesticides and weed killers will become available locally, he said, effectively driving down costs for farmers.

While much of the furfural will be for export, local manufacturers will also benefit from by-products, which include acetic and formic acid.

Mr Patel said Bio-Corn Products will directly employ 400 people and consume 60,000 tonnes of corncobs annually, producing 5,000 tonnes of furfural, 2500 tonnes of acetic acid and 400 tonnes of formic acid.