Carotech to boost biodiesel production

Perak, Malaysia’s Carotech Bhd. plans to more than triple its biodiesel output to 125,000 tons a year, as it ramps up its core business activity of producing vitamins from palm oil. The firm, a 55% subsidiary of Malaysian pharmaceutical firm Hovid Bhd., produces Vitamin E which is extracted from crude palm oil, and in the process gets biodiesel or palm methyl ester as by-product. Earlier this year, it secured a two-year contract worth RM155 million (US$43 million) to supply biofuel to Osaka-based Hatakeyama Oil Corp.  Managing Director David Ho said Carotech’s biodiesel prospects were unlikely to take a big hit due to the spike in crude palm oil prices and a decline in petroleum prices, which has put into question the viability of vegetable oil-based biofuels. The company has been supplying biodiesel to the market since 1995. About 50% of its 2006 revenue came from biodiesel exports. (December. 4, 2006)