Samsung Group to build biodiesel plant in Indonesia

The Samsung Group, South Korea’s largest conglomerate, plans to build a biodiesel plant in Indonesia, a local paper reported. The plant is scheduled to begin operations in 2009, producing 50,000 kiloliters (kl) of biodiesel per year. Its exact location has not yet been revealed. Samsung will invest up to US$1.63 billion to set up the plant and acquire 62,000 acres of land to grow palm oil. The head of Indonesia’s National Biofuel Development Team, Al Hilal Hamdi, said the company had already invested US$163 million in acquiring land and a factory, noting that total investment would likely “increase by ten times” that amount. The country produces two million kl of biofuel a year, which should rise to 5 million kl by 2010. (July 25, 2008)