Ethanol producers yesterday welcomed a dialogue with the National Biofuels Board (NBB) to resolve the conflict regarding the country’s policy on ethanol importation for next year.
"The industry welcomes the government’s move to dialogue with the stakeholders and resolve with finality the non-compliance to the 5 percent blending and local content mandate of ethanol for all gasoline as prescribed by the Biofuels Law," the Ethanol Producers Association of the Philippines (EPAP) said.
Tetchi Capellan, executive director of EPAP, said that the ethanol producers are still urging the government to stop ethanol importation and withhold the 1 percent tariff rate on imports.
She said, "unless a certificate is issued by DOE attesting to the full adherence by the importer of the 5 percent blending requirement and compliance to the absorb-domestic-supply-first policy as prescribed by law, no imports should cross the borders."
"Government must send a clear signal to business," Capellan said.
EPAP’s statement was a reaction to Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras’ call for Congress to review the Biofuels Act 0f 2006 and allow ethanol importation beyond 2010.
Almedras earlier said that there would not be enough domestic ethanol production by next year to meet the local demand, so the logical thing to do is to allow ethanol importation.
The Biofuels Act of 2006 mandates that all gasoline fuel products distributed and sold by oil companies in the Philippine market should have at least 5 percent bioethanol blend by volume by 2009 increasing to at least 10 percent by 2011.
The law also mandates that by 2011, all ethanol that would be blended with gasoline should be locally sourced.
Based on the latest Philippine Energy Plan, the expected demand for ethanol this year is about 219 million liters, demand will double to 438 million liters in 2011, the time when the mandate is increased from 5 percent to 10 percent. There are only three ethanol plants that are expected to go on production this year: San Carlos Bio Energy, which is expected to produce a target of 38 million liters; Leyte Agri, which produces 9 million liters; and Roxol Bioenergy which is expected to produce 30 million liters.
Total production is expected to be to be only at 77 million liters, or only 35 percent of the the domestic requirement for ethanol.
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