biofuel
BEIJING, China (Reuters) — Following on the heels of China’s plan to institute a 10 percent ethanol mandate, a state-owned firm has announced construction of a new ethanol plant and plans five more.
China’s State Development & Investment Corp. (SDIC) aims to produce four to five million tonnes of ethanol a year in the next three to five years.
It wants to profit from a new policy promoting ethanol use. China said last month it will require 10 percent ethanol content in gasoline by 2020 to boost industrial demand for excess corn stocks and clean up the nation’s polluted air.
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China produces less than 2.5 million tonnes of ethanol a year, but the new policy could increase demand to 15 million tonnes a year by 2020, according to a Reuters estimate.
“Following the 10 percent mandate, there will be huge, huge space (for growth),” SDIC chair Wang Huisheng said.
SDIC has already begun construction of its first ethanol plant in Liaoning province in northeastern China with 300,000 tonnes of annual capacity, Wang said.
It plans to build another five plants, including in Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, and buy additional facilities, Guo Zhongjie, SDIC’s director of strategy and development, said.
The five new plants are still awaiting government approval.
State-owned grain trading house COFCO is China’s top ethanol producer but SDIC plans to be the market leader within five years, Wang said.
SDIC has also hired Yue Guojun, former chief engineer and board chair at COFCO’s ethanol division.
