California based Aemetis, Inc. through its Indian subsidiary Universal Biofuels Pvt. Ltd has recently completed the expansion and upgradation of its biodiesel and refined glycerin production facility in Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.
The 50 million gallon per year capacity unit has been upgraded to produce high-quality distilled biodiesel. The plant was built in 2008 using advanced technology to produce biodiesel and refined glycerin using large volumes of lower-cost, non-food by-products from the edible oil industry as feedstock to supply the biofuel, pharmaceutical, and industrial markets.
According to Sanjeev Gupta, Managing Director of Universal Biofuels Pvt. Ltd “The new distillation production unit is fully commissioned and the facility would produce biodiesel meeting or exceeding the highest standards for biodiesel quality worldwide.”
The Aemetis plant is the only distilled biodiesel producer in India and is one of the only plants in Asia capable of producing large supplies of biodiesel that meet the rigorous European Union (ISCC) standards. During 2013, approximately $20 million of biodiesel was produced by the Indian plant and delivered to customers in Europe.
“The completion of this biodiesel distillation unit allows Aemetis to significantly expand our production levels in order to supply European and India biodiesel customers,” stated Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis.
Recently, the European Union adopted five-year, anti-dumping tariffs against Argentina and Indonesia due to large subsidies provided to their local producers. Since an anti-dumping tariff already exists against US biodiesel imports, European fuel customers are now focused on Malaysia and India as the remaining low-cost biodiesel suppliers to Europe.
Using lower-cost by-products from the edible oils industry, the Aemetis biodiesel plant in India now has among the lowest cost and highest quality of any biodiesel produced.
