China’s COFCO Plans to Finish Ethanol Project this December with Second Phase to Follow

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--China Oil and Food Corporation (COFCO) will finish construction of the first phase of a two-phase $200 million non-grain ethanol plant this December. COFCO (Beijing, China) started the construction of the first phase of its non-grain fuel ethanol project, a 200,000 ton per annum fuel ethanol plant, last December in Hepu Industrial Park in Beihai City in the Guangxi autonomous region.

The first phase of construction required an investment of about $100 million and will be put into operation this December. Currently, equipment is being installed after civil engineering has been finished. After completion, it will become China's first non-grain ethanol factory.

Guangxi COFCO Biological Energy Company Limited (Guangxi Autonomous Region), a subsidiary of COFCO, is in charge of the project.

The second phase of the project, in which COFCO will spend another $100 million over two years, will be able to produce 50,000 tons of ethanolamine every year.

The new COFCO fuel ethanol factory will use cassava as a raw material, instead of corn. Last December, China's Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Finance jointly issued a regulation ruling out the possibility of producing ethanol with corn in China.

The COFCO fuel ethanol project is a trial project of China's 1 million-ton per annum non-grain fuel ethanol project.

China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation ( Sinopec (NYSE:SNP )) (Beijing, China) signed an agreement with COFCO this April to build a fuel ethanol production capability of 1 million-ton per annum to 1.2 million-ton per annum.

Founded in 1952, COFCO is a leading grain, oils and foodstuffs import and export group in China and one of the country’s largest food manufacturers. The company's business also covers real estate, hotel and financial services. Fortune magazine listed COFCO as one of the world's top 500 enterprises.

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