Indonesia attracts more biofuels projects

Major Japanese trading houses are scrambling to set up biofuel plants in Indonesia on the prospect of booming future demand amid growing concerns over global warming. Itochu Corp. plans to build one bioethanol plant each in Sumatra and Java islands, in partnership with major local ethanol producer PT Molindo Raya. Rival Sojitz Corp., in conjunction with a local firm and others, plans to construct a plant to produce biodiesel fuel from palm oil in Kalimantan, Borneo island. The plants will be among the country’s largest, with a combined output of about 100,000 kiloliters annually. The project, worth an estimated US$50 million, will initially supply the local market but plans to export to Japan in the future. (February 24, 2007)