China National BlueStar (Group) Corp and its France-based subsidiary, Adisseo Group, are planning to set up a new methionine plant in China to meet growing demand in the global market.

BlueStar said on Friday it would establish the new plant in the petrochemical industrial area of Tianjin, a northern municipality in the vicinity of Beijing where raw materials were available.

The new plant would be put into operation in 2011 with a preliminary annual capacity of 70,000 tons. Its designed total annual capacity was 140,000 tons.

Methionine is an essential amino acid used as a supplement in animal feed that speeds up poultry breeding.

Gerard Deman, Adisseo CEO, said existing production capacity could hardly meet demand in the global market, especially in Asia. He estimated the Asian market would take up more than half of global demand growth in the next decade.

By 2015, the global methionine market will grow by four percent, driven by an increasing global population that will consume nearly 300 million tons of meat annually. Poultry products, 40 percent of which are produced in Asia, will account for half of the increase in meat demand, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Adisseo also plans to invest 20 million euros in its French and Spanish bases in the coming two years to raise production capacity, according to company sources.

As a subsidiary of the state-owned ChemChina Group Corporation, BlueStar Co focuses on chemical products and new materials. It has total assets of 20 billion yuan ($2.76 billion).

In January 2006, BlueStar acquired Adisseo Group, the world's second largest producer of methionine. It was the first case of a Chinese enterprise acquiring an overseas firm in the field.

Last February, BlueStar became the largest Chinese investor in Europe, after acquiring the France-based specialty chemicals producer Rhodia Group.