Mr. Siriwut Siembhakdi, President of Thai Ethanol Manufacturing Association (TEMA) revealed that the Energy Ministry has called for a meeting on 20 October with the ethanol manufacturers to discuss about the current ethanol situation on production capacity and price.

The ethanol supply in the market has regained its balance thus the manufacturers want the government to cancel the previous announcement for ethanol export halt as the operators can now operate normally.

Mr. Siriwut said that the ethanol manufacturing efficiency started to improve and now approximately 24.9 million liters of ethanol can be found in stock. Many manufacturers have made futures contracts with foreign customers and the government’s halt order could continue to put pressure on their businesses.

At present, there are 45 licensed ethanol manufacturers but only 15 are on operation. The total daily capacity is 2.75 million liters but the actual production is only 1.5 – 1.7 million liters per day.

The ethanol price in the 4th quarter of this year averages at 24.50 baht per liter which is comparable to that of the last quarter.

However, three ethanol manufacturers have just started to operate. They expect to be able to operate at full capacity by the beginning of next year.