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Koreans to invest PHP 8B in RP Biofuels |
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Written by Sabrina Deparine
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Monday, 20 April 2009 09:57 |
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Page views: 606 |
The Philippines, represented by the Department of Agriculture, has recently signed two agreements with South Korean firms who will be investing a whopping sum of PHP 8 billion in the local biodiesel and bioethanol industries.
 According to a department official, the projects included in the two agreements will be the first collaboration of the Philippines with South Korea in terms of biofuels. The two investments also include the construction of production and processing facilities.
To date, the Department of Agriculture has not yet named the two South Korean companies who made the investments. But one of the two is investing in biodiesel that would use jatropha as its raw material. This will utilize about 5,000 hectares of land in the area of General Santos City. The other company, meanwhile, has expressed its interest to invest in bioethanol using sugarcane stock as raw material and this project will make use of 15,000 hectares of land in Tarlac.
Based on plans and estimates, the bioethanol plant to be constructed in Tarlac will be the biggest in the archipelago with a target output of 500,000 liters per day. This figure is much bigger than what other ethanol facilities can offer. San Carlos Bioenergy Inc., which will be fully-commissioned by September this year, can only produce 125,000 liters per day. The other existing facility which is Leyte Agri Corp. can only produce 30,000 liters per day.
At this point, the two projects are now in the financial closure stage. These will utilize a combination of debt and equity. The investor still has to secure the planning materials. The company that will engage in the bioethanol facility will also deal with landowners. They already have plantations that they can use in the future.
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