February 28, 2007

Brazil's Biocastell to build US$7.2 million biodiesel mill

Brazilian biodiesel producer Biocastell will invest 15 million Brazilian reais (US$7.2 mln/5.4 million euro) in the construction of a biodiesel mill in the Monte Castelo municipality, in the country's southern Santa Catarina state, reports news agency ProCana.

The unit will be built by Petrobio, a biodiesel mill constructor based on southeastern Sao Paulo state. Biocastell and Petrobio signed the contract for the construction of the mill on February 23, 2007. The project has also been applied for fiscal incentives under the Trade and Industrial Development Programme (Prodeic).

The mill's annual biodiesel output is projected at some 30 million litres of biodiesel. It will have a daily producing capacity of up to 100,000 litres of biodiesel. Initially, the used raw materials will be soy oil and animal fat. The unit is projected to start processing peanut and sunflower thereafter as raw materials for biodiesel production.