23-07-08 South Korea's largest company Samsung Group plans to develop a 25,000-hectare oil palm plantation and a biodiesel refinery in Riau province with an investment of up $ 1.63 bn.
Head of the Indonesian national team for biofuel development AlHilal Hamdi said the company had spent 1.5 tn rupiah (about $ 163 mm) on acquiring the land and the factory.

“They bought the land recently and that was their first investment. The total investment will likely increase by 10 times,” he was quoted as saying.
Hamdi said Samsung was expected to go online next year and produce 50,000 kiloliters of biodiesel per year.

Indonesia produces two types of biofuel -- bioethanol, made from cassava, sugarcane and sorghum; and biodiesel, made from castor and crude palm oil.
The country's annual biofuel production is currently 2 mm kiloliters and is expected to grow to 5 mm kiloliters by 2010.