Duda to produce biofuel

Meat producer PKM Duda has signed an agreement with international concern Lurgi for the construction of a bio-ethanol production plant. "Thanks to this we will be able to provide a market for our agricultural products as well as get a cheap component for the production of fodder," PKM Duda's president, Maciej Duda, said. The fodder can be made using some byproducts from ethanol production.

Corn will be the main component used in the production of the biofuel. Apart from bio-ethanol production, which is intended to reach 100,000 tonnes annually, the plant will produce about 101,000 tonnes of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) fodder.

Duda did not disclose the value of the investment, saying only that the company itself will invest zł.30-40 million from its own resources. The annual revenue of the plant is expected to be zł.300 million per year.

The investment, planned to be located in southwestern Poland, is to start in January 2007 and be completed in September or October 2008. By the end of April 2007 the two companies are to form an entity in which Duda will have a 90-percent stake, with Lurgi holding the remaining 10 percent. In the long term Duda plans to sell some of its shares to one of the future receivers of bio-ethanol. "But we want to keep the majority of shares in our hands," Duda said.

The meat concern's president didn't rule out further investments in the biofuel sector. "We want to have around eight percent of the bio-ethanol market by 2010," Duda concluded.