BY RADHICA SOOKRAJ
A US$20 million ethanol dehydration plant is now under construction at Pointe-a-Pierre and is expected to bring substantial foreign exchange to T&T.

So said managing director of EthylChem Ltd Patrick Johnson in an interview. Johnson said the plant is being constructed on the western end of the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery in south Trinidad.

“Construction has already started and we expect to have the plant fully on stream by April next year,” Johnson said. He added that EthylChem will hire all of its labour force from T&T. He said 135 people will be employed during the construction phase while 18 people will be directly employed during operations.

Johnson said Petrotrin will be paid for use of its infrastructure. The plant is expected to process ethanol which is being imported from Brazil.

He explained that Petrotrin will eventually own the plant once EthylChem’s 15-year lease had ended. Asked whether the plant will then be obsolete, White said, “No.” He said the plant will have a lifespan between 30 to 45 years.

White also said that all of the processed ethanol will be shipped to the United States. Representative of EthylChem’s investment bankers Travis Windholz said because of the stringent environmental laws in the United States, they have not built a plant in the United States for over 30 years.

White explained that they decided to build the ethanol dehydration system plant in Pointe-a-Pierre because it was economically profitable to construct the plant in Trinidad. He said if construction had taken place in Brazil, EthylChem would have been forced to pay additional duties.

Johnson said EthylChem would bring between US$150 million to US$200 million into the local economy each year once production begins.