Rayong Purifier Plc expects biodiesel operation to lift sales this year

SET-listed Rayong Purifier Plc (RPC) expects its new biodiesel operation to lift its sales this year by 5.4% to 23.2 billion baht, up from 22 billion last year, the Bangkok Post reports. RPC’s wholly owned Pure Biodiesel Co has operated since January, with a daily output of 150,000 million litres of biodiesel, said Supapong Krishnakan, the chairman of RPC’s executive board. RPC’s revenue from its main business – oil refining and service stations – is projected to stay flat this year at 22 billion baht with the decline in demand for fuel amid the recession. RPC aims to push utilisation past 75% by year-end and to reach full capacity by 2011 when the government will enforce mandatory use of B5, a mix of 5% biofuel and high-speed diesel, to replace B2 with 2% biofuel in diesel. “We will be a loser in the Asian region for palm oil since our production cost is highest among global exporters. The government should have started to allocate a budget for research and development to lift yields and breed new high-yield species a long time ago,” he said. RPC is considering investing both upstream in plantations and downstream in oleochemical production. (June 15, 2009)