D&L pushes construction of 2nd biodiesel facility

MANILA, Philippines — D&L Industries Inc., the country’s leading specialty food ingredients and oleochemicals producer, remains keen on investing in a new biodiesel facility despite the deferral of the planned increase in biodiesel blend this year.

D&L president and CEO Alvin Lao said the company is still looking to push through with plans to build a second biodiesel plant to support a further increase in the country’s mandated biodiesel blend.

The new biodiesel plant is aimed at supporting the government’s plan to raise the biodiesel blend from three percent (B3) to four percent (B4) by Oct. 1, 2025, and eventually to five percent (B5) by Oct. 1, 2026.

The Department of Energy, however, has decided to postpone the planned blend hikes after the National Biofuels Board suggested delaying the implementation, given the rising costs of coconut oil.

“The biodiesel blend went up from B2 to B3, or three percent, last year. It was supposed to go up in October this year, but that has been postponed. We don’t know yet when the B4 will be,” Lao said.

Lao, however, said it still makes sense for D&L to consider building a second plant even if the increase has been postponed.

“It’s not cancelled. Postponed means it will still be done at a later date. So, in that sense, it would still make sense to proceed with more capacity for biodiesel,” he said.

Lao said that D&L, through wholly owned subsidiary Chemrez Technologies Inc., is currently in the planning stages for the new biodiesel plant.

“I would say it’s probably a matter of when, not if. This means there’s a high probability we will make a second plant. But in terms of when, how big, how much we’ll spend, nothing has been finalized yet,” Lao said.

The company built Asia’s first continuous coconut biodiesel plant in 2006 and is now the largest biodiesel manufacturer in the country.