Biofutures Share Discussion Threads

[leedskier] 12/12/2012 16:35

What is palm biodiesel?

Palm biodiesel is an alternative fuel derived from palm oil and can be used in compression ignition engines i.e. diesel engines without any modifications. Palm biodiesel refers to methyl esters (PME) that are derived from palm oil through a process known as "trans-esterification" or "esterification".

[leedskier] 12/12/2012 16:31

In Malaysia, B5 biofuel is a blend of 5% palm methyl ester (PME) and 95% diesel.

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok is also reported as saying that Malaysia is ready to have a nationwide implementation of the B5 biodiesel by year-end.

It is said that some RM43.1mil has been set aside to fund the in-line blending facilities at six petroleum depots while another RM200mil is earmarked to build similar facilities nationwide.

On June 1 last year, the national roll-out of the B5 programme started with the central region, covering Putrajaya, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. The programme in the central region utilises 112,000 tonnes of CPO annually.

Unnithan says the Government is hoping that about 500,000 tonnes of palm oil will be taken out of its stock once the B5 programme goes fully nationwide.

"The latest measure on the migration from B5 to B10 programme is indeed a boon to biodiesel players.

"I expect about one million tonnes of palm oil will be used and this will definitely reduce the country's huge palm oil inventory," he adds.

[leedskier] 12/12/2012 16:29

The price of crude palm oil tumbled today.

[silax] 12/12/2012 09:27

The text below is lifted from platinum's website.. note the current infrastructure at their nanotechnology park can process up to 3kg of nano graphene a day...


We invested RM180 million on our integrated nanotechnology biorefinery park, strategically located at a 9-acre site in Senawang, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.
The facilities at the nanotechnology park include:

100,000 tonne/annum pre-treatment facility
200,000 tonne/annum methyl esters facility
3 kg/day nano graphene facility
The facility is ISO 9001:2008 certified.

By the end of 2014, we expect to be operating an additional world-class facility in East Malaysia

[leedskier] 12/12/2012 08:49

This US company sells Graphene Nanoplatelets for US$80 per 50 grammes plus shipping charges in the USA/Canada.

ADD: That is @ £1 a gramme or £1000 a kg. or £1 million a metric tonne.

rob67 11 Dec'12 - 12:25 - 4962 of 5003 0 0Moderate | Ban

Just doing a few quick sums on the profitability of Graphene production. The results are truely stunning unless im calculating it wrong.

According to Platinum's figures in the above article "Fueled by Passion" the figures are as follows:


....


Estimated cost of production = $50 per kg or £30 x 1000 = £30000 per tonne

....


They expect to be producing up to 2000 tonnes per year by 2015!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

---

From the company's website:



High Performance Advanced Nanomaterials

Proprietary technology. Our catalytic methane cracking technology enables low cost production of graphene from renewable sources through growth on catalytic metals as opposed to the conventional methods of mechanical and chemical exfoliation from graphite. We have the exclusive right to the IP that protects this technology, including innovation in catalysts, manufacturing and processing of finished products.

Product quality. Our technology produces consistent soot-free, high purity structured graphene platelets requiring no purification and with no agglomeration issue, commonly found in graphene produced from conventional methods.

Lowest production cost. The one-step catalytic process has a lower production cost as opposed to the conventional method, which require the costly additional purification step of the material. The production cost of graphene using the Catalyx Process is less than USD50 per kg.

An enabling nanotechnology. Graphene Nanoplatelets has exceptional electron and thermal conductivity, mechanical properties, barrier properties ad high surface area and combinations thereof, making it a potentially disruptive technology across a raft of industries.

Feedstock source flexibility. We have the flexibility in sourcing our fedstock from multiple sources from natural gas to methane generated from POME, landfill gas as well as industrial wastes.

Hydrogen as a by-product. Our process generates zero waste and produces hydrogen as a co-product. Hydrogen, being the cleanest source of energy, is used for various industrial applications, including chemical production, petroleum refining, fats and oils production and electronics processing.

[leedskier] 12/12/2012 07:51

Being an optimist I prefer to start a new day on a positive note:


SINGAPORE: The combination of diminishing extreme downside risks globally, a modest, progressive pick-up in growth and attractive valuations for most growth assets, points to 2013 being another year of reasonable returns.

Head of investment strategy and chief economist, Multi Asset Group, AMP Capital, Dr Shane Oliver said while 2012 has had its fair share of worries, it has turned out far better than feared.

"Share markets and growth assets have been able to generate strong returns for investors. This has been helped by investors looking for higher yields in the face of zero or falling cash rates," he added.

However, he expects interest rates to remain low globally and fall a bit further in Australia.

Oliver highlighted that the main risks relate to the US budget and debt problems, a relapse in Europe, a slower than expected pick up in non-mining activity in Australia and a sharp back up in bond yields if investors get more confident.

He noted a year ago it seemed everyone was obsessed with Europe.

"At that time we thought there was a case for a bit of cautious optimism. This turned out okay. While sentiment is now not as bleak, we remain cautiously optimistic for several reasons," he said.

Against a background of a modest pick up in global growth and gradually receding risks in Europe, he said growth assets are likely to continue to do well but the returns from bonds are likely to be limited.

He said shares are likely to provide another solid year of returns. "Shares are very cheap against bonds as bond yields have fallen further and should benefit from ultra easy monetary conditions globally and the anticipation of stronger profit growth in 2013-2014.

Oliver said worries about Italy and Spain could trigger a bout of volatility around February/March, but overall returns are likely to be solid.

"While US shares have been a star performer, helped by more aggressive monetary easing, this may be starting to change.

"Our assessment is that European and Asian shares are likely to be the star performers in the year ahead, reflecting relatively low price to forward earnings ratios of around 10 times, compared to around 12 times in the US, the gradual pricing out of disintegration risks in Europe and stronger growth prospects in Asia," Oliver added.

He said unlisted commercial property and infrastructure are likely to benefit from relatively attractive returns and strong investor demand given their relatively attractive yields.

He said the main global risks relate to US budget and debt problems and a relapse in Europe, perhaps triggered by renewed worries regarding Italy or Spain.

An alternative risk is growth surprises on the upside, triggering a mass investor switch out of bonds resulting in a sharp back up in bond yields.

"While the year ahead is likely to see occasional bouts of volatility, returns overall are likely to be reasonable as global growth picks up a bit, and monetary conditions remain ultra easy globally and become increasingly so in Australia," Oliver said. - BERNAMA

[rob67] 11/12/2012 20:27

Just had to be no 5000!

[bam bam rubble] 11/12/2012 17:54

Unless you offer some form of guidance I'm unable to say how many shares you hold.
However as a percentage of the enlarged share capital, yes I would go with 'tiny'.

[leedskier] 11/12/2012 17:46

But do not pull your punches BBR make your accusation against the valuers and I will ensure it is forwarded to them, BIP and Platinum. Incidentally when you write sale by a private investor of a tiny amount of shares have you any idea for example how many shares Rob or I hold in BIP? Or perhaps your idea of tiny and mine differ.

[leedskier] 11/12/2012 17:43

Well the company said it announced its decision in 2011 and said it wanted to use the money for other purposes having written down the value of the shares for tax purposes.

The sale of a whole company is not illiquid. The sale of a minority shareholding is.

[bam bam rubble] 11/12/2012 17:28

My post simply stated the facts, you provided the spin with a straw man argument.

12-month lock-in is standard practice, the same occurred with the Zurex RTO. The vendors can sell in 12-18 months and 1-2p would still be a good exit. 0.5p would be a similar price to what ex-associate Octagon achieved in 2012.

[leedskier] 11/12/2012 17:16

Well you spin it how you wish. We will disagree on that one. However your main thesis that there will be millions of BIP shares being trickled onto the market after the company is relisted has a major difficulty as the vendors are locked in for a year. Unless you and others propose to borrow them from the vendors and short sell them ;


add:

which I rather think would be a breach of the lock-up agreement.

[bam bam rubble] 11/12/2012 17:12

One cannot compare the above transaction to a private investor selling a tiny amount of shares in a company.

Octagon Consolidated was originally an associate company to Platinum Nanochem. In Oct 2011, if my understanding of the agreement is correct the aim was to reverse Platinum into Octagon. Platinum's directors then agreed to find a buyer for the 16.7% stake owned by Octagon and the shares were sold a few months ago for around £1m.

[leedskier] 11/12/2012 17:05

I cannot see how for the life of me why Octagon's decision to sell its entire shareholding in Platinum to a third party (and at a loss on its purchase price) has any bearing on the fair market value of Platinum.

If I sell my shares in BIP at a 1p a share to raise cash for other purposes, as was the case you cite, does that mean BIP is only worth 1p a share?

At the time Platinum was a private company. Of course its shares were illiquid whilst it remained so.

add:

I bet it regrets that decision now ;

[silax] 11/12/2012 16:58

Agree Leeds.. sorry should have added that point ..

Clearly the valuation would have had to satisfy both parties...

[bam bam rubble] 11/12/2012 16:56

Some more info for the header:

Aug 2012: 100% of Platinum Nanochem valued at £6m (based on 16.7% bought for £1m)
link to sale agreement pdf:

Dec 2012: 100% of Platinum Nanochem to be vended into BIP for £36m worth of shares
(1,154,401,154 new shares at 3.1p, being the share price at time of announcement)

6x markup for the vendors

[leedskier] 11/12/2012 16:55

I see Crowe Horwarth Advisory were jointly instructed by both sides. Given that the basis of the valuation must have been transparent and I look forward to reading their report in the admission document.

[silax] 11/12/2012 16:49

;)

Clearly Crowe Horwarth Advisory have valued PNSB on a forward earning DCF basis( which is subject to some assumptions and potential bias) but the earnings potential of PNSBs technology is clear to see...!

[leedskier] 11/12/2012 16:48

I think given the excellent information posted here today, I will make a start on changing the header, but in draft form at this stage and offsite and may post the changes this weekend here, but no promises.

[leedskier] 11/12/2012 16:45

mm, trust me given the likely criticism from one quarter if I had got it wrong, I was hesitant to post it ;

[madmick] 11/12/2012 16:39

Im just a tad disappointed BAM BAM didn't short BIP a bit more, as I was sitting with cash waiting to buy more just a little bit lower.
never mind it dosn't pay to be to gready.
I worked the price to 7p too first thing this morning. but didn't post as I wanted to see if anyone else came up with the same price.
all sounds very promising.

[leedskier] 11/12/2012 16:35

24ap apologies, I was confused ;

[leedskier] 11/12/2012 16:35

silax, plainly ABT did not have access to BBR's valuations if they invested RM4.4M for just 2.6% of the shares.

[24apenny] 11/12/2012 16:34

Leeds, didnt really understand your last comment, but i have never changed my name on any BB its always the same. 24apenny.

[leedskier] 11/12/2012 16:28

24ap, now I think know who you are ... you changed your user name ;