Japan refiners purchase domestic bioethanol for the first time

02 October 2009 14:16  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japan Biofuels Supply LLP (JBSL), a group of Japanese refiners, has begun purchasing domestically made bioethanol for the first time from Hokkaido Bioethanol and Oenon Holdings, said JBSL and the Petroleum Association of Japan (PAJ) on Friday.

The bioethanol purchased was being shipped to the Negishi refinery of Nippon Oil in Kanagawa prefecture around the end of September and the beginning of October, the groups said.

The bioethanol would then be made into ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) and mixed with gasoline at the refinery, they added.

Oenon Holdings, an alcohol beverage maker, and Hokkaido Bioethanol, a joint venture of agricultural associations in Hokkaido, both produce bioethanol at Hokkaido as government-sponsored model projects.

JBSL in June signed a contract with both companies to purchase a combined total of 8,000-13,000 kilolitres of bioethanol between September 2009 and March 2010.  

JBSL is a limited liability partnership among nine Japanese refiners including Nippon Oil, Idemitsu Kosan and Cosmo Oil to import, domestically procure and transport ETBE and bioethanol for the member companies.   

The partnership has imported ETBE from countries such as Brazil and France in the past.

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By: Tomomi Yokomura
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