Hungarian biorefinery secures €135 loan to expand facilities and production

Hungarian bioethanol producer Pannonia Ethanol has successfully completed a €135 million credit facility agreement with a consortium of Hungarian banks.

The facility will support expansion at the company’s Dunaföldvár, Hungary, biorefinery, investment in new projects, cost reduction, additional jobs, and increases in both corn buying and animal feed output.

“The plant is already the largest biorefinery in Europe,” Mark Turley, CEO of Pannonia Ethanol’s parent, Ethanol Europe Renewables said.

He added: “This investment further reduces costs and increases production capacity across the board. It also supports the introduction of innovative new bioproducts that promise significant benefits for human and animal health.

“The Dunaföldvár plant currently supports over 2,000 direct and indirect jobs in the Tolna County region. The expansion will increase employment further, both directly and through the plant’s strong economic multiplier effect. Maize purchasing from farmers will exceed 1 million tonnes in 2017.”

“We are very pleased that this facility has been provided by a consortium of Hungarian banks, the Budapest Bank, Hungarian Export-Import Bank, K&H Bank, and Raiffeisen Bank. The package provides new credit capacity for our normal working operations, finances an expansion of ethanol/animal feed production capacity, and restructures existing low debt levels on a more economic basis,” Eric Sievers, EERL investment director said.