Biodiesel producers urge CPC to buy locally to save the industry

Taiwan’s 11 biodiesel producers have requested the government for subsidies to allow them to compete with imports. They also urged CPC Corp., the state-owned oil and gas company to source biodiesel locally. Tsai Chin-lung, a Taiwan lawmaker said that local biodiesel consumption is estimated at between 90,000 and 100,000 kiloliters. If CPC buys all the domestic production volume, then the market will be balanced. But the Bureau of Energy says that the local market is oversupplied because CPC is procuring more than half of its requirements overseas. Lee Yi-fa, chairman of Chant Oil Co., a local biodiesel producer, said, “The industry is now on the brink of collapse. We hope the government will come to our rescue.” (July 20, 2011)