EcoCeres Opens First SAF Plant in Malaysia, Bullish on Outlook

EcoCeres is well placed to take advantage of Asia’s demand for sustainable aviation fuel, which is expected to grow in the near future, said Chief Executive Officer Matti Lievonen at the inauguration of its SAF plant in Johor, the first such facility in Malaysia, on Monday.

Europe is leading in global SAF demand, both voluntary and involuntary from mandates, but various Asian countries have announced or are planning to announce various mandates by 2030, likely making this region the second-largest SAF market globally, Lievonen said. Singapore and South Korea each have a 1% mandate by 2026 and 2027, respectively, while Japan has a 10% mandate by 2030.

EcoCeres plans to take part in Singapore’s procurement tender for SAF, expected sometime this year, Lievonen added.

The plant in Pasir Gudang, Johor, is EcoCeres’ second SAF plant, following one in Jiangsu Province, China. The new facility has a nameplate capacity of 420,000 metric tons per year of SAF, hydrotreated vegetable oil and bionaphtha. The company did not disclose the final ratio and yield of each product.

One advantage of operating an SAF plant in Malaysia is the proximity to waste-based feedstocks, such as used cooking oil, animal fats, grease and palm oil mill effluent. In addition to sourcing these feedstocks domestically, EcoCeres has around 350,000 restaurants in China supplying to the company. “All (are) traced…otherwise, you cannot sell (SAF)”, said Lievonen.

Besides the plant’s geographical advantage, Lievonen explained that EcoCeres differs from other SAF producers in that it is vertically integrated and uses only self-developed technologies. It also sells directly to end users like airlines, airports and jet fuel blenders to capture a larger share of profits.

EcoCeres is already researching newer SAF production technologies such as alcohol-to-jet, and synthetic e-fuel.

E-fuel will require green hydrogen and green electricity, which the global south, including Latin America and Southeast Asia, can produce at lower costs than elsewhere due to the abundance of sunlight, Lievonen said.

–Reporting by Kite Chong, kchong@opisnet.com; Editing by Mei-Hwen Wong, mwong@opisnet.com