Amonil contemplates fuel production

Chemical fertilisers producer Amonil Slobozia could start to produce fuels this year, after it will begin to make AdBlue, an urea-based additive for Diesel engines next month, say sources close to the company. Amochim, a company recently set up by Amonil, is examining the possibility to produce ethanol as of this autumn. The fuel is combined with petrol in a mixture of 1:4 and used in car engines alongside other such fuels as biodiesel, which is made from agricultural raw materials. The increasingly drastic requirements regarding pollution as well as the significant rise in energy prices worldwide have led to people being increasingly drawn to alternative fuels such as ethanol or biodiesel. As a matter of fact, several investors, among which are the Portuguese-owned Martifer, the German MAN Ferostaal, businessman Adrian Porumboiu, the oil producer Argus Constanta and Rompetrol, announced that they would invest over 200 million euros to produce biodiesel, a fuel which does not currently exist on the Romanian market. ZF