KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 29 April) – An industrial company based in Tupi town, South Cotabato province is investing some P3 billion for the production of coconut-based biofuel.
South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. said his family-owned Tupi Supreme Activated Carbon Inc. is planning to establish a production facility that would process coconut oil into biodiesel.
Tupi Supreme, which operates an industrial plant in Barangay Kablon in Tupi, is engaged in the production of activated carbon, a high-value product derived from coconut shells.
The product, which has a growing demand locally and abroad, is used in water filtration, air purification, health care, food, metal extraction, and gold purification.
“Tupi Supreme will buy whole nuts, process copra into oil and the finished product will be biofuel from coconut,” Tamayo said in a press briefing on Monday.
The governor said the demand for coco biodiesel is on the rise as oil companies were mandated by the Department of Energy to increase the biofuel blend to three percent from the previous two percent starting October 1, 2024.
The coco methyl ester or CME blend will further increase to four percent by October 1, 2025, and to five percent by October 1, 2026.
The Biofuels Act of 2006 mandates that all liquid fuels for motors and engines contain locally sourced biofuel components.
Tamayo said the new venture would provide better opportunities for local coconut farmers or producers, noting that it could lead to higher prices for raw coconuts.
“The higher buying prices would be good for our farmers,” he said.
Tamayo said that copra and coconut prices have been increasing in the past several months mainly due to the tight supply and growing demand globally.
Aside from copra, the demand has been also increasing for the production of coco juice, coco husk and other by-products.
The Philippine Coconut Authority reported that the farmgate price of copra averaged P51 a kilo as of the first week of April, a significant increase from P25.42 per kilo in the same period last year. (Allen V. Estabillo / MindaNews)
