<article>Thailand-based ethanol manufacturer <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.thaiagroenergy.com/">Thai Agro Energy Plc (TAE)</a> is negotiating to buy two ethanol production plants with a combined production capacity of 200,000 litres a day.</article>

Thailand-based ethanol manufacturer <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.thaiagroenergy.com/">Thai Agro Energy Plc (TAE)</a> is negotiating to buy two ethanol production plants with a combined production capacity of 200,000 litres a day.
The acquisitions aim to boost its daily production capacity from 350,000 litres to 550,000 litres, in a bid to serve the growing demand in the country.
Chief executive Somchai Lovisuth said that the company would focus on the plants in the central region, located near the molasses – the main raw material for producing ethanol.
“We currently run 80 per cent of total production capacity, so it’s time for expansion. However, we don’t want to build a new plant. We prefer acquiring the ones, which already have the licenses but are not ready to operate,” he said.
It targets to produce and sell 105 million litres of ethanol this year, up 10 per cent from 97 million litres in 2014. He projects that the sale revenue will also grow by 10 per cent from 2.5 billion baht last year.
“The profit will be higher than 219 million baht last year thanks to lower production cost and expenses. Once we start generating the electricity from our power plant, we will save the cost by 70 million baht a year,” he said.
Apart from the acquisition, it allocates the budget of 40-50 million baht to enhancing the efficiency of its ethanol plant this year. Additionally, it is considering increasing the electricity generating capacity of its biomass power plant from 3 megawatts to 5 megawatts with an estimated investment of 100-120 million baht.
However, it also depends on the clarification of the government’s policy to promote renewable energy.
Also read: <a style="color: #ff0000;" title="Thailand’s CPF to acquire Cambodian agro-producer for $86.5m" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/thailands-cpf-acquire-cambodian-agro-producer-86-5m-3545/" rel="bookmark">Thailand’s CPF to acquire Cambodian agro-producer for $86.5m</a>
Earlier, there was a rumour that the major shareholder <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.lannar.com/">Lanna Resources PCL </a>would sell its 51-per-cent stake in TAE.
“I am confident that Lanna will not sell its shares because TAE has a good performance and generate high profit. Meanwhile, the debt-to-equity ratio has continuously reduced from 1.7 times in 2013 to 1.1 in 2014,” the CEO cited.

Thai Agro Energy Plc (TAE) is negotiating to buy two ethanol production plants with a combined production capacity of 200,000 litres a day.

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