6/6/2005 Manila Standard - Filipino-owned company Chemrez Inc. willinvest P2.2 billion to put up the first biodiesel-dedicated manufacturingplant in Asia.

Dean Lao Jr., Chemrez operations manager, told reporters the company wouldspend about P650 million for the first phase of the project located atEastwood, Libis, Quezon City.

Phase one is slated to be completed by the first quarter of next year.Once operational, the plant will have an annual capacity of 60,000 metrictons to meet the government's target of 1 percent blend of coco-diesel inthe transport sector.

Lao said the company would infuse an additional P1.5 billion for thesecond phase. Chemrez plans to put up a second plant in the next two tothree years.

Chemrez has not decided on the location for phase two of the project butLao said "it should be in a logistically strategic location or near apier."

He said Chemrez was looking at exporting some of the products once thesecond phase becomes operational.

The two plants will increase Chemrez's current capacity of 1.2 millionliters to five million liters.

Chemrez obtains its coconut oil from six refiners in Quezon province andthe Bicol region. Small oil players Eastern Petroleum Corp., Flying V andSeaoil Philippines distributes Chemrez's output.

Lao said the company saw bright prospects in alternative fuels likecoco-methyl-esther in the transport industry.

The company official also assured the stability and sustainability ofbiodiesel.

"We should dispel this wrong notion that biodiesel could poise danger incar engine," he said, noting that tests were conducted several times by BPOil New Zealand, Shell Australia SK Corp. of Korea and Chemrez to correctthe misinformation about biodiesel. Alena Mae S. Flores