Roxas Holdings to build ethanol plant
Roxas Holdings Inc. (RHI) has engaged the services of Indian-based firm KBK Chem-Engineering Pvt. Ltd. to build its sugar milling unit’s 100,000-liter a day ethanol plant. The plant will be built next to Central Azucarera de La Carlota Inc. (CACI) in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental in the Philippines. The plant is slated for completion by the end of next year or early 2010. Earlier this year, CADP Group Corp., Roxas Holdings’ sugar milling and refining unit, had estimated that building the ethanol plant would cost around Php1.2 billion ($26.5 million). The passage of the country’s Biofuels Act, which requires the blending of ethanol and biodiesel with gasoline and diesel fuel, respectively, has spurred investments in this sector. (June 27, 2008)