Jakarta. Global agricultural foods merchant Louis Dreyfus Company -- also known as LDC -- is planning to start constructing its glycerin refinery in Lampung in the first quarter of 2024.

The company today is trying to secure the necessary licenses before it can begin the construction work, according to Rajat Dutt, the country head of LDC in Indonesia. Refined glycerin is a key ingredient in pharmaceutical production, thus providing huge business opportunities for LDC.

“We will start the construction [of the Lampung glycerin refining plant] in the first quarter of 2024,” Dutt told a media luncheon in Jakarta on Thursday.

According to Dutt, LDC is currently trying to acquire the necessary licenses before the actual construction work. This includes environment and building-related permits. Dutt, however, refused to give some numbers, including the expected production capacity of the upcoming glycerin refinery plant. Dutt said the refinery was part of the group’s strategy to add more value to its products. The facility will refine the crude glycerin produced by LDC’s biodiesel plant in Lampung.

“So we get this crude glycerin from biodiesel and refine it. We then export it to the European and US markets. It will be a pharma-grade glycerin to make it into pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and personal goods,” Dutt said.

Dutt said the plant would likely start production of the refined glycerin in Q1-Q2 2025. 

LDC’s biodiesel plant in Lampung is adjacent to the company’s palm oil refinery which processes 2,000 tons of palm oil per day for refining and fractionation. The biodiesel plant boasts an annual production capacity of up to 420,000 tons of palm methyl ester (PME) and 50,000 tons of crude glycerin, the company’s official website shows. LDC claims to be the first wholly foreign-owned biodiesel facility in Indonesia.

LDC today already produces refined glycerin in Claypool, Indiana, and Wittenberg, Germany.