March 1, 2012
Cofco Biochemical gains 21% rise in 2011 net yield
Cofco Biochemical (Anhui) Co Ltd. (000930.SZ), the corn processing unit of Cofco Corp, said Wednesday (Feb 29) its 2011 net income rose 21% to RMB355 million (US$56.4 million) due to government subsidies it received on sales of corn-based ethanol.
The company, which is 20.74% owned by state-owned grain trader Cofco Corp, said it would "actively" develop fuel ethanol without using grain, according to its financial statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
Cofco Biochemicalconsumes about two million tonnes of corn annually, it said.
Last year, it sold 470,115 tonnes of fuel ethanol, receiving RMB600 million (US$95.24 million) as government subsidies, according to the statement.
The government gave the company about RMB1,200 (US$190.48) as subsidy for selling a tonne of fuel ethanol, the statement showed, down from RMB1,659/tonne (US$263.34) in 2010 and RMB2,056/tonne (US$326.35) in 2009, as the government limited corn consumption for non-feed purpose to ease supply tightness.
Cofco Corp controls Hong Kong-listed China Agri-Industries Holdings Limited (0606.HK), with annual corn processing capacity of around 1.85 million tonnes.
The group's corn process capacity is about 6.4 million tonnes a year.