TST to invest in biodiesel plant in West Australia

Saudi Arabian company Jeddah-based Technology System Trading (TST) plans to invest A$200 million (US$132.14 million) in West Australia to create a huge pearl farm and biodiesel production plant off the coast at Port Hedland. The Fisheries Ministry said it is considering whether to give the Middle Eastern firm the go-ahead to grow and harvest millions of pearls and make 400,000 tons of algae-derived fuel a year in the Indian Ocean, an ambitious plan seen as crucially important to diversify industry in the Pilbara. Joe Rinkens, a licensed shell collector who holds a license for a 44-hectare pearl farm near Downes Island, would run the Arab-funded farm. The Downes Island project hinges on TST being able to harvest the 40,000 pearl oysters that grow on navigational beacons marking the shipping lanes into Port Hedland harbor. (March 10, 2009)