Producer
Novus International
Novus International (Chesterfield / St. Charles MO USA; owned 80% Mitsui & Co. Japan + 20% Nippon Soda Japan); global animal nutrition company producing ALIMET (HMTBa — 2-hydroxy-4-(methylthio)butanoic acid), a liquid methionine hydroxy analog that is approved as bioequivalent to DL-methionine in poultry and swine diets. ALIMET plant at Chocolate Bayou TX near Alvin Brazoria County (~284,000 MT/year nameplate capacity; first shipment 1984). Also produces MFP (Methionine Feed Grade Powder) and gut health products. ~10-15% global methionine market share. Note: ALIMET is an analog (not identical to dry DL-methionine) — approved by FDA and EU for equivalent nutritional use in poultry. US-based production is Japanese-owned, not American-owned. Revenue ~$650M/year.
4
Inputs supplied
4
Goods downstream
3
Facilities
0
Stories
What they make
4 inputs Novus International supplies
Click an input to see every good that depends on it, every country that produces it, and every other company in the supply chain.
agricultural
Poultry & Dairy Feed (Corn, Soybean Meal) →
chemical
DL-Methionine (Essential Amino Acid Supplement) →
chemical
DL-Methionine (Essential Amino Acid Supplement) →
chemical
DL-Methionine / HMTBa (Feed-Grade) →
Where it shows up
Goods downstream
Essential goods that depend on something Novus International makes, pick one to see the full supply chain.
Where they make it
3 facilities
Novus International ALIMET Plant (Chocolate Bayou, Texas) →
USChocolate Bayou, near Alvin, Brazoria County, Texas · chemical_plant
Novus's primary ALIMET (HMTBa liquid methionine analog) manufacturing plant; first shipment 1984; ~284,000 MT/year nameplate capacity. Owned 80% by Mitsui & Co. (Japan) and 20% by Nippon Soda (Japan) — the plant is Japanese-owned, not Chinese-owned. ALIMET is 2-hydroxy-4-(methylthio)butanoic acid — a liquid methionine hydroxy analogue, chemically distinct from dry DL-methionine. Located on the Gulf Coast for easy petrochemical feedstock access and port export.
Novus International MMP Intermediate Plant (Louisiana) →
USSt. Charles Parish, Louisiana · chemical_plant
Novus acquired this methylmercaptopropanal (MMP) intermediate plant from Dow/Union Carbide in 2015 to secure backward integration for ALIMET production at Chocolate Bayou. MMP is the key intermediate step between acrolein+methyl mercaptan and the final methionine product.
Novus International St. Charles Manufacturing →
USTexas · processing
Novus liquid methionine (HMTBA / Alimet) production facility; key US source of liquid methionine for poultry and swine feed; competes with Evonik powder DL-methionine and Adisseo liquid MHA
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map, where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
ALIMET (HMTBa Methionine Analog)
70%Gut Health & Feed Additives
20%Other Animal Nutrition
10%
Intelligence
What's known
Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains, chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Concentration2023
Novus International's parent company, CJ CheilJedang (CJ Bio division, Seoul Korea), is simultaneously the world's largest L-lysine producer AND a major methionine source producer (through Novus). L-lysine and DL-methionine are the two most critical amino acid additives in commercial poultry feed — both are non-substitutable, both require specialized fermentation or chemical synthesis facilities with 2-5 year build times, and both are sold as global commodities to every feed mill on earth. A single Korean conglomerate (CJ Group, itself part of the Samsung corporate family tree — CJ was originally Cheil Jedang, Samsung Group's food subsidiary, spun off in 1996) thus controls a meaningful share of both amino acid chokepoints in global animal feed. CJ Group chairman Lee Jay-hyun was convicted of embezzlement in 2013 and 2016 — raising governance questions about a company that sits in the critical path of global poultry feed amino acid supply.
CJ CheilJedang Corporation ↗Did you know2015
Novus International's ALIMET plant at Chocolate Bayou Texas — the only US-based liquid methionine production site — is owned 80% by Mitsui & Co. Japan and 20% by Nippon Soda Japan. This means the largest single methionine analog production site in the Western Hemisphere (~284,000 MT/year ALIMET) is Japanese-owned, not American-owned. Mitsui & Co. is one of Japan's largest sogo shosha (general trading companies), with equity positions in LNG terminals, iron ore mines, agribusiness, chemicals, and logistics globally. ALIMET is one node in a multi-sector Japanese strategic resource network that spans energy, metals, and agricultural inputs. Combined with Sumitomo Chemical's ~13% global methionine share (also Japanese), Japanese companies effectively control ~25% of global methionine capacity while being rarely identified as a factor in Western food security analysis.
Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ↗