In three years, biodiesel producer Chemrez Technologies Inc. (ChemrezTech) targets to source 50 percent of its revenues from the overseas market, significantly higher than the current 15 percent.
 
In an interview at the sidelines of the firm’s annual stockholders’ meeting, ChemrezTech chief operating officer Jun Lao said they already have the lion’s share of the local market for most of their products and the only way to grow the business is to expand their export markets.

At 15 pecent of 2008 consolidated revenues of P4.66 billion, ChemrezTech's exports were worth P700 million last year and this amount will more than triple to P2.33 billion by 2011.

ChemrezTech chief finance officer Alvin Lao noted that, aside from biodiesel, the firm’s other products such as resins, colorants and specialty chemicals are leading in their respective markets. He said they are just working to protect their market share in these segments.

To build on its coconut oil-based chemicals or coconut methyl ester (CME) export markets, ChemrezTech continues to develop new product applications of CMEs, said Lao.

Through the use of pioneering process technology, CME fractions that have high potential as export products were recently developed. Through these efforts, the ChemrezTech’s export volume of fractionated CMEs grew by 55 percent in 2008.

Other oleochemical products of ChemrezTech include glycerine and other CME derivatives, which are used mainly as surfactants or foaming agents for soaps and detergents.

Locally, ChemrezTech produces and sells more biodiesel due to the increase in the mandated blend to 2 percent despite strong competition from more players and an oversupply in the market.

Lao said the firm is also testing environment-friendly pesticides with the aim of getting a foothold in the multi-billion pesticides industry currently being controlled by foreign companies.

"There is still no Filipino company producing pesticides locally and we see great potential in that business, specially in Mindanao where most agri companies are based," he said.