17/4/06 PETALING JAYA (The Star) --  Biodiesel and super Vitamin E producer Carotech Bhd's share price rose 3 sen to a record high of 84 sen yesterday on high crude oil prices and a biofuel theme on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). 

The stock has soared 91% this year and in the last one week alone, it shot up from 71 sen to a day's high of 87.5 sen before closing at 84 sen yesterday. 

The share price was boosted by news of crude oil prices crossing US$70 a barrel. 

The latter will lift Carotech's revenue as it is understood prices of biodiesel, a substitute, move in tandem with with crude oil prices. 

Optimism over Carotech's prospects may also have been supported by an ethanol - commonly referred in this country as biofuel - theme on the NYSE. 

There, speculators or investors would have noted that ethanol prices have doubled over the past 12 months to about US$2.65 a gallon. 

Hence, share prices of grain procession companies that have announced plans to diversify into the production of ethanol had rallied, Wall Street Journal said in a recent report. 

Carotech is well-positioned in market interest in the biofuel sector as the company has biodiesel plants that are already in production and its aggressive expansion plans are in advanced stages