Thai Palm Oil Firm to Open Plantation in Laos

Thai palm oil trader OPG Tech Co is planning to establish a new oil palm plantation and increase biodiesel production in neighbouring Laos, due to diminishing business opportunities in Thailand.  The firm was looking into planting a 16,000 ha plantation and developing it over the years to bring its biodiesel production up to 120,000l/day, reported the Bangkok Post last month. The Lao government also granted approvals to operate as an oil palm crusher, biodiesel producer and a provider of microcredits to plantations.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
The company had been planting crops in Laos over the past seven years through its subsidiary Laos Agrotech Co (LAT) and it already had a 1,600 ha plantation in the country producing 30,000l/day of biodiesel. OPG wanted to diversify its business activities to include the upstream segment of crude palm oil, but Thailand lacked the necessary opportunities for the expansion due to limited land available for plantations.  The LAT research team had also developed a new oil palm variety, called Lao Viang I, that was tolerant of the drier weather conditions of landlocked Laos.