BANTING, June 27 (Bernama) -- Golden Hope Plantations Bhd has started the country's first commercial production of biodiesel at its plant in Teluk Panglima Garang with the capacity to produce 30,000 tonnes of renewable energy supply annually.

The biodiesel produced at the plant would be exported to markets such as China, India, South Korea, Japan and Europe, Golden Hope Plantations group chief executive Datuk Sabri Ahmad told a press conference, here Tuesday.

He said Golden Hope will dispatch its first shipment of between 2,000 and 3,000 tonnes of biodiesel (Palm Methyl Esther) to Japan in August under a short term contract with a buyer in the country.

Sabri said Golden Hope's biodiesel plant in Pulau Carey, Kuala Langat would start its production early next year.

The project, a joint venture with Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), will be able to produce around 60,000 tonnes per year.

He said Golden Hope is in the final stage of negotiation with a company in Europe to start another biodiesel plant in Holland and another one in Bintulu.

With the four biodiesel plants, Golden Hope would have a total production capacity of 390,000 tonnes of biodiesel a year, Sabri said, adding that three other plants are expected to be operational by next year.

"We believe we can produce good quality biodiesel products and should contribute significantly to the group's profit," he said.

Golden Hope's biodiesel venture involved an investment of RM250 million.

"Biodiesel will be the new growth area for the oil palm industry because the demand is huge. Although we are going aggressively into biodiesel, we assure that there is sufficient supply of oil palm for the food industry. We don't want to divert all to biodiesel," he said.

-- BERNAMA