Czech producers buy cheaper foreign bioethanol

17 January 2008 17:44  [Source: ICIS news]

PRAGUE (ICIS news)--Czech companies Unipetrol and Cepro will source half their bioethanol requirements from abroad because surging corn prices have made the domestic production of the biofuel component uneconomical, they said on Thursday.

Recent months have seen the price of Czech corn rise by around 100% while the bioethanol market price has decreased by around 50 percent, spokesmen for the firms explained.

Current Unipetrol data showed that one litre of Brazilian bioethanol was priced at koruna (Kc) 17 (€0.65/$0.95), while the cheapest Czech alternative was Kc2 more expensive.

The Cepro spokesman said the company would only continue to buy bioethanol from one Czech producer, namely TTD Dobrovice.

TTD Dobrovice uses sugar beet  instead of corn to produce its 800,000 tonnes/year of bioethanol, meaning its end product is cheaper.

The Czech market is currently full of rumors about bioethanol companies ceasing production.

One confirmed indefinite project shutdown has occurred at Ethanol Energy, a firm which intended to convert an old sugar refinery in Vrdy, central Bohemia, to create a bioethanol plant with a designed capacity of 330,000 tonnes/year.

($1 = Kc17.89/€1 = Kc26.22)

By: Will Conroy
+44 20 8652 3214

< previous article(VIDEO - ICIS news Europe Lunchtime Bulletin 27 October 2009)

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly