Thai sugar makers boost bioethanol output

Leading sugar producers in Thailand will boost their production capacities for sugarcane-derived bioethanol in anticipation of growing sales of new cars running on ethanol blends. Thai Roong Ruang Sugar Group (TRR), Thailand’s second-largest sugar producer, plans to double the production capacity of its ethanol plant in Saraburi, a province in central Thailand, to 240,000 liters a day in 2010 by investing 400 million baht (US$12.07 million). Mitr Phol Sugar Corp., the country’s largest sugar maker, plans to construct a joint-venture ethanol plant in Thailand also in 2010 with Banpu Public Co., Thailand’s largest coal-mining firm. The new plant will cost 2 billion baht (US$60.36 million) and have a capacity to produce 200,000 liters of ethanol per day. (December 15, 2009)