Toyota Tsusho invests in JOil

Japan’s Toyota Tsusho has taken a stake in JOil Pte Ltd, a Singaporean company that researches and markets plants for use as raw material in biodiesel manufacturing and which has an exclusive licensing agreement covering patented technology for the production of large volumes of high-productivity jatropha seedlings. The Nagoya-based trading company plans to begin a business distributing jatropha seedlings to Asian, African and Latin American markets, with the prospect of developing and operating jatropha farms in the future. Jatropha is inedible but produces high-quality oilseeds and holds promise as an inexpensive biodiesel raw material since the plant is hardy and can be cultivated on low-grade agricultural land. Toyota Tsusho is fostering a business in biodiesel as a priority segment, and the move will help it to expand the upstream part of this fuel business. Because raw materials now account for more than half of the total costs of the biodiesel business, securing a stable, low-cost source of inedible raw materials is of particular importance. (June 16, 2009)