Hyundai Oilbank-Lotte Confectionery, Joint Business Agreement on 'Bio Diesel'

On the 1st, Lee Jin-seong, Lotte Confectionery Business Director (left), Joo Young-min, President of Hyundai Oilbank (center), and Lee Seung-soo, Head of Global Business Division at Hyundai Oilbank (right), attended the Hyundai Oilbank-Lotte Confectionery bio joint business agreement ceremony and took a commemorative photo. Photo by Hyundai Oilbank

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jung] Hyundai Oilbank and Lotte Confectionery announced on the 1st that they have signed a memorandum of understanding for a strategic partnership in the bio business.

The signing ceremony held at Hyundai Oilbank's Seoul office in Jung-gu, Seoul, was attended by Joo Young-min, President of Hyundai Oilbank, and Lee Jin-sung, Business Representative of Lotte Confectionery, among others.

The core of this partnership is that Lotte Confectionery will supply by-products generated during the manufacturing and distribution of food products domestically and internationally as raw materials for Hyundai Oilbank's biodiesel process. Biodiesel is a biofuel made from vegetable oils or animal fats. Currently, biodiesel is used either blended with diesel fuel in diesel vehicles or as 100% pure fuel.

Hyundai Oilbank is constructing a biodiesel manufacturing plant with an annual capacity of 130,000 tons on a 10,000㎡ site at the Daesan plant, aiming for completion in 2023. This is the first phase of Hyundai Oilbank's next-generation white bio business, which is being promoted as an eco-friendly future business.

Lee Seung-soo, Head of Global Business Division at Hyundai Oilbank, said, "Hyundai Heavy Industries Group and Lotte Group have already solidified their partnership through Hyundai Chemical, a petrochemical joint venture between Hyundai Oilbank and Lotte Chemical. We expect this cooperation to be another starting point to explore various joint business opportunities beyond simple transactions."

The two companies also agreed to consider establishing a joint venture for long-term bioenergy raw material procurement and overseas market expansion. In addition to raw material procurement, they plan to expand the scope of cooperation to various fields where synergy between the energy and food industries can be created.