ASB Biodiesel may expand biodiesel project in China

Hong Kong-based ASB Biodiesel is building a 100,000 ton-per-year factory at the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate in Hong Kong, and expects construction to be completed by the end of 2012. The company plans to start commercial production in the second quarter of 2013. Waste materials such as animal fats, used cooking oil and grease trap oil, and palm fatty acid distillate, a by-product of crude palm oil refining, will be used in the production of biodiesel. The company, which is backed by the Middle East lender Al Salam Bank-Bahrain and other regional investors, said that if the Hong Kong model proves successful, it will build a similar plant in the mainland. (August 2, 2012)