Ministry of Industry Delegation Visits NatureWorks’ Second Global Manufacturing Site at Nakhon Sawan Biocomplex

NAKHON SAWAN, Thailand--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 24, 2026--

NatureWorks Asia Pacific Limited welcomed a high-level delegation led by Mr. Varawut Silpa-archa, Minister of Industry, to its manufacturing site at the Nakhon Sawan Biocomplex (NBC). The visit follows the successful inauguration of the site on April 29, 2026, and highlights the role of public-private collaboration in advancing Thailand’s sustainable industrial development and bioeconomy ambitions.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260724856049/en/

As NatureWorks’ second global manufacturing site, the Nakhon Sawan operation represents a strategic investment to meet growing demand for sustainable materials across Asia-Pacific. Designed as an integrated, feedstock-to-polymer production facility, the site expands NatureWorks’ global manufacturing footprint, strengthens regional supply reliability, and enhances access to Ingeo™ biopolymers for customers across Asia and beyond.

A defining achievement of the project is the successful transfer and commercialization of NatureWorks’ proprietary manufacturing technology. While the company’s original production facility in Blair, Nebraska utilizes corn as its primary feedstock, the Nakhon Sawan site demonstrates the successful application of the technology using 100% locally sourced Thai sugarcane, enhancing the versatility of renewable agricultural feedstocks in producing high-performance biopolymers.

With a nameplate production capacity of 75,000 metric tons of Ingeo™ polylactic acid (PLA) biopolymers per year, the facility creates value across the supply chain, from local agriculture and upstream processing to advanced manufacturing and export markets. By transforming Thai sugarcane into high-value sustainable materials, the project contributes to economic development while supporting Thailand’s Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy Model, which aims to drive innovation, competitiveness, and sustainable growth.

“The Nakhon Sawan Biocomplex demonstrates how innovation, investment, and Thailand’s agricultural strengths can be integrated to create high-value industries for the future. This investment reflects confidence in Thailand’s potential as a regional hub for sustainable and bio-based manufacturing and supports our vision under the BCG Economy Model to enhance competitiveness while delivering long-term economic, social, and environmental benefits,” said Mr. Varawut Silpa-archa, Minister of Industry.

Ingeo™ PLA biopolymers offer a lower-carbon alternative to conventional fossil-based plastics and are industrially compostable. The material serves a wide range of applications, including rigid and flexible packaging, food serviceware, hygiene products, durable consumer goods, and 3D printing filaments.

“It is an honor to welcome Minister Varawut Silpa-archa and the distinguished delegation from the Ministry of Industry. This site represents the successful integration of global innovation, advanced manufacturing expertise, and Thailand’s agricultural strengths. As our second global production site, it strengthens supply security for customers throughout Asia-Pacific while creating long-term economic and environmental value for Thailand,” said Bill Suehr, Chief Operations Officer of NatureWorks.

The Nakhon Sawan manufacturing site represents a significant step in NatureWorks’ global growth strategy and the continued expansion of the sustainable materials economy in Asia-Pacific. By combining world-class technology, renewable agricultural resources, and strong public-private collaboration, the project strengthens regional supply resilience, creates new value across the bioeconomy, and reinforces Thailand’s position as a leading destination for sustainable industrial investment.

For more information about NatureWorks and Ingeo, visit natureworksllc.com or follow the company on LinkedIn for the latest updates.

About NatureWorks

NatureWorks is an advanced materials company offering a broad portfolio of biopolymers and biochemicals made from renewable resources. With performance and economics that compete with oil-based materials, naturally advanced Ingeo™ biomaterials are valued for their unique functional properties and used in products from coffee capsules and appliances to tea bags and 3D printing filament. NatureWorks is jointly owned by a Thailand-based leading global chemical company, PTT Global Chemical (GC), and Cargill which provides food, ingredients, agricultural solutions, and industrial products to nourish the world in a safe, responsible, and sustainable way.

Thailand’s Minister of Industry, Mr. Varawut Silpa-archa, joins Ministry delegates and NatureWorks leaders at the company’s new manufacturing facility at the Nakhon Sawan Biocomplex.

LONDON (AP) — Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown pleaded guilty Friday to brawling at a London nightclub in 2023, a fight in which he hit a music producer over the head with a bottle.

Brown, 37, made the change of plea during a hearing at London's Southwark Crown Court. He had previously denied more serious charges over what prosecutors called a “vicious attack."

In return for the guilty plea, prosecutors dropped charges of assault, attempting to cause grievous bodily harm and having an offensive weapon, a bottle.

Brown's friend and vocal coach Omololu Akinlolu also pleaded guilty to affray. The two men had been due to stand trial in October.

Brown had denied attacking Abraham Diaw with a bottle at the Tape nightclub in the swanky Mayfair neighborhood in February 2023. But prosecutors said the fight was caught on surveillance camera in front of a club full of people.

The affray charge accepted by the defendants states that “Chris Brown and Omololu Akinlolu on February 19 2023 used or threatened unlawful violence towards another and their conduct taken together was such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety.”

“This was a vicious and unprovoked attack by Brown and Akinlolu in a crowded nightclub where Brown used a glass bottle as a weapon to strike the victim’s head twice," Claire Campbell, a senior prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service, said after the guilty plea.

“This kind of violence is entirely unacceptable, and the Crown Prosecution Service will work tirelessly – with the police and partners across the criminal justice system – to pursue cases like this, and prove that no one is above the law.”

Brown left the United Kingdom after the brawl but was arrested in May 2025 at a Manchester hotel after flying to the city to prepare for a tour.

Brown had been free on bail of 5 million pounds ($6.7 million), which allowed him to tour Europe and North America last summer. He was freed on bail again Friday and will be sentenced Oct. 26 on the affray charge, which carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.

Brown, wearing a tan suit, gold-rimmed sunglasses and a St. Louis Cardinals baseball cap, signed autographs for fans as he left the courthouse.

Brown, who rose to stardom as a teen in 2005, won his first Grammy for best R&B album in 2011 for “F.A.M.E.” He earned his second in the same category for “11:11 (Deluxe)” in 2025.

He has been in repeated legal trouble since his felony conviction in the 2009 assault of his then-girlfriend, Rihanna, hours before the pair were due to perform at the Grammys.

Chris Brown arrives at Southwark Crown Court, where he is charged over an alleged assault in a London nightclub, in London, Friday, July 24, 2026. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

Chris Brown arrives at Southwark Crown Court, where he is charged over an alleged assault in a London nightclub, in London, Friday, July 24, 2026. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)