9/2/06 JOHOR BAHARU Bernama) -- Johor Corporation (JCorp) hopes to turn the Tanjung Langsat Industrial Complex into the first regional hub for biofuel, says its group chief executive Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim.

"We are looking forward to be the first and follow through by the others," he told reporters after witnessing a signing ceremony between diversified palm oil group Kulim (Malaysia) Bhd, a subsidiary of JCorp, and Peter Cremer (Singapore) GmbH here Thursday.

The signing produced a Malaysian-German partnership to build two new biodiesel plants in Singapore and Johor to produce biofuel and other downstream speciality chemical derivatives this year.

"Everybody wants to be the first in creating the hub, but we have the facility all ready at Tanjung Langsat," Muhammad Ali said.

According to him, the industrial complex already has what it takes to make a success of the biofuel hub concept to serve the region.

"On top of that, we have more than 1,200 acres of fully developed industrial land with the full complement of infrastructure and utilities are already readily available to be fully dedicated to biofuel," he said.

Muhammad Ali said JCorp had invested more than RM350 million in the necessary infrastructure, including the port and liquid cargo handling, storage and other logistical facilities at Tanjung Langsat.

He said this state of readiness also attracted Kulim and Peter Cremer to locate their first Malaysian biodiesel plant at Tanjung Langsat.

"To-date, we have received serious enquiries from six other parties, including foreign and local, which have expressed their intention to locate refining facilities and/or biodiesel plants in Tanjung Langsat," he said, adding that combined, these six plants would account for more than 400,000 tonnes of biodiesel annually.

Without naming the companies interested, Muhammad Ali said they were already in the palm oil business and wished to expand into biodiesel.

He noted that other states like Sabah also wanted to become a biodiesel hub, adding that such competitive spirit was good.

"To be a biodiesel hub, we have to be near palm oil. We also have the advantage of a very strong presence of refining and oleochemical industries," he said.

"If you look at the numbers, we can say easily said that we have the largest concentration of palm oil refining and oleochemical capacity in one location perhaps globally at Tanjung Langsat and Pasir Gudang," he added.

Muhammad Ali said in addition, Tanjung Langsat's location is strategic because of its proximity to petrochemical activities in the region such as Singapore.

"We can facilitate and fast-track anybody who is interested to invest here," he said.

Mohammad Ali also said that the Tanjung Langsat port would be expanded and upgraded to meet with the biodiesel requirements in particular.

He said if needed, another jetty could be built to complement the existing one already in service.

-- BERNAMA