The Vietnam National Chemical Group (Vinachem) and the provincial Tay Ninh People’s Committee have signed a deal to build a sorbitol (sugar alcohol) plant with an annual output of 20,000 tonnes.

This will be the first plant that produces a biological product in the south-western province of Tay Ninh. It will use starch of cassava, grown by local farmers on area of around 30,000 ha each year.

Covering 6 ha in Tan Bien district, the facility is estimated to cost more than 22.13 million USD. Vinachem and the Tay Ninh Sugar Company each will contribute 40 percent of the total investment, while the rest is shouldered by the Vietnam Institute of Industrial Chemistry.

Sorbitol is used in various industrial fields such as food processing, cosmetics and health./.