Itochu JV to produce biodiesel at Flint Hills’ facility in U.S. by next year

Japan’s Itochu Corp., through a U.S. joint venture, plans to start production in the U.S. of next-generation biodiesel fuel that does not rely on soybeans or other food crops as early as next year.
Itochu and subsidiary Itochu Enex Co. recently formed a joint venture with Flint Hills Resources LLC, which is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, U.S.A., and start-up Benefuel Inc., which is based in Irving, Texas, U.S.A. Itochu owns a 15% stake in the JV.
The partners plan to initially produce some 190,000 kiloliters (kl) of biodiesel a year at Flint Hills’ facilities — equivalent to 5% of the total U.S. biodiesel output. The joint venture aims to generate ¥25 billion (US$247.4 million) in sales as early as fiscal 2015.
The joint venture will use a by-product from bioethanol production based on corn. The by-product is normally used as feed or thrown away, but the JV has developed a way to remove the impurities through the use of special catalysts. The new technology can also be used to process waste cooking oil. Production costs will be about 30% lower than conventional biodiesel.
Itochu hopes to bring its biodiesel operations to Asia as well.