It’s not just oil that is in short supply – now its ethanol too.
According to the Bangkok Post, Shell Thailand has been forced to delay the launch of its E20 (20% ethanol, 80% petroleum) blended gasoline from the third quarter of this year to the end of the year due to a shortage in supplies of ethanol.
The plan was to expand the gasohol pump network but this would require around 200,000 litres of ethanol per day. Now, according to Tiraphot Vajrabhaya, chairman of Shell Thailand, this may not be possible as ethanol makers prefer to export to gain higher profits. Due to some production conditions, ethanol makers can only produce around 800,000 litres per day.
It is expected that demand for ethanol will outpace the country’s output by around 10 million litres in October and 13.6 million litres in November.
Demand for ethanol is high in Thailand, where three million cars now run on gasohol 95 and 91, which are both E10 blends, with 150,000 cars running on E20.
