Van der Horst Biodiesel signs non-binding agreement

Van der Horst Energy, with headquarters in Singapore, has made further headway in its biodiesel venture, announcing that its wholly owned subsidiary Van der Horst Biodiesel (VDHB) has entered into a non-binding agreement with Integra Marketing to off-take and market 80% of production from VDHB’s upcoming biodiesel refinery for five years. Chief Executive Peter Cheng was upbeat about the agreement, saying: we have now completed the whole chain from growing our feedstock to the refinery production and to the off-take of our produce. The non-binding heads of agreement set out the broad terms agreed upon by the two parties. The agreement will not have any material impact on Van der Horst Energy’s financial situation for the current year, the company said. Integra Executive Directors Gina Fyffe and Roger van Baal said at the signing ceremony that this is another step in the direction towards renewable fuel. VDHB plans to refine raw agricultural oil, including raw jatropha curcas oil, to produce biodiesel at its new refinery at Tanjong Langsat in Johore, Malaysia. The capacity is expected to increase to 160,000 tons per year in 2011 and then to the rated capacity of 200,000 tons a year in 2012. (June 14, 2008)