12/03/2009 (Bernama), Kuala Lumpur - Finland-based Neste Oil Corporation plans to buy about 250,000 tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia this year, its vice president, business operation renewable fuels, Risto Karppinen said.

He said this was an increase from the 160,000 tonnes of palm oil bought by the refining and marketing company last year.

"We plan to buy more from Malaysia due to its sustainable feedstock. As a member of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), Neste Oil strongly supports the RSPO certification process," Karppinen said.

The RSPO certified palm oil meets the European sustainability requirement, which is the company's main focus of operations currently, he said on the sidelines of the Palm and Lauric Oil Conference here.

Karppinen said the increase in palm oil order was in line with the completion of the company's second plant in Porvoo, Finland, which is expected to be operational by the fourth quarter this year.

The plant will have the capacity to produce about 170,000 tonnes of biodiesel annually, he said.

Neste Oil currently has a biodiesel plant in Porvoo, Finland, with an annual capacity of 170,000 tonnes, Karppinen said.

He said the company expects to complete its new plants in Singapore and Rotterdam, the Netherlands, by 2010 and 2011 respectively, with both plants having an annual capacity of 800,000 tonnes each.