China's proposed new ethanol plants to meet E10 push

BEIJING, July 5 (Reuters) - Chinese companies rushed to draw up plans to build new ethanol plants in the country's northeastern corn belt after Beijing set a target to use ethanol in gasoline nationwide by 2020.

China said last year that it will roll out E10 gasoline, containing 10 percent ethanol, in 2020 to boost industrial demand for excess corn stocks.

But since the announcement, only one project has been given the green light, while other companies' plans are languishing, waiting for approval.

Below are a list of ethanol plants under construction or planned:

* CHINA STATE DEVELOPMENT & INVESTMENT CORP (SDIC)

SDIC is building an ethanol plant with 300,000 tonnes of annual capacity in Liaoning province, expected to go online in August, according to executives at the company.

SDIC plans to build another five factories including in Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, and buy some additional facilities, in the next few years, a senior executive told Reuters last year.

It was not clear if that plan is still up to date.

Local state media reported late last year that the company aims to launch an ethanol plant with 600,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of production capacity in Fujin, Heilongjiang province.

The company also acquired an alcohol plant in Jilin province, with annual capacity at 1.15 million tonnes, to develop its ethanol business, according to state media and a source with knowledge of the matter.

SDIC will convert some of that production into fuel ethanol following the nation's overall development strategy, the company's spokesperson said. The timeline for doing so is not clear.

* COFCO:

The state-owned agriculture giant plans to build three factories in Heilongjiang, with 300,000 tpy of capacity each, but it is still waiting for the local government to start the bidding process, according to a person familiar with the matter.

It is planning another plant with 650,000 tpy of production capacity in Changchun, Jilin province, and has relocated a 300,000 tpy unit in Anhui province, according to Zhuochuang, a consultancy in the eastern province of Shandong.

COFCO did not respond to an email seeking comments.

* CHINA BEIDAHUANG INDUSTRY GROUP HOLDING LTD

The Hong Kong listed investment holding company plans to build an ethanol plant with 350,000 tpy of capacity in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, state media reported in April.

Beidahuang could not be reached for comment. (Reporting by Hallie Gu and Josephine Mason; editing by Richard Pullin)

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