Vale completes palm oil plant in the state of Para; biodiesel production to follow later

Brazil’s mining giant Vale is working to complete a US$500 million project to convert palm oil into biodiesel to provide fuel for its operations, the company said. Vale said that it was inaugurating the first plant in this project on June 26, located in the state of Para. It is the first of two plants being built to produce palm oil from the oil palm fruit, with a capacity of 25 metric tons (mt) of oil/hour. An industrial plant to convert the palm oil into biodiesel is also under construction and will be operational in 2015. Vale did not say how much biodiesel will be produced at the plant when it is completed. The biodiesel will be used to supply Vale’s fleet of diggers and trucks, as well as equipment and machinery. Vale has said it aims to use a 20% biodiesel mix to petroleum diesel at its industrial operations in Brazil. The country has a minimum requirement of 5% biodiesel (B5). The company did not give a timeframe for when the B20 mix would be achieved.