Mitr Phol Sugar to open new ethanol plant

Mitr Phol Sugar Group, Thailand’s biggest sugar miller, said it plans to open a new plant in the country that will produce 200,000 liters of ethanol a day. The new plant will boost Mitr Phol’s capacity by 50% to 600,000 liters per day, making it Thailand’s biggest ethanol producer with a 40% market share. “We believe oil prices will be volatile in 2009 and that could help boost ethanol demand as an effective biofuel choice,” Mitr Phol Managing Director Tat Wanakornkul said. “It’s our third plant but it’s the first one in Thailand which makes ethanol from sugar cane, not molasses,” said Wanakornkul, who oversees the company’s energy businesses. (January 29, 2009)