Singapore (Platts)--10Nov2008

Enviro-Hub Holdings has been forced to delay the start-up of a
commercial-scale plastic-to-oil plant in Singapore for a second time this
year, the company said in an earnings release late Monday.
"Due to further unexpected delays in the completion of the setting up of
the plastic-to-fuel plant, the group expects the plant to be operational in
first quarter 2009," the company said while reviewing results in a statement
to the Singapore Exchange after markets closed Monday.
In August, the company said it was hopeful of starting the plant by end
September after start-up was delayed from March when custom-made imported
parts arrived late.
It gave no explanation for the latest delay.
The commercial plant is expected to initially have the capacity to
convert 30,000 mt/year (about 616 b/d) of plastic waste into diesel, LPG and
coke. A second phase would eventually lift its capacity to 50,000 mt/year
(about 1,000 b/d), if it gets off the ground.
Enviro-Hub, which runs a copper scrap smelter in Singapore, also reported
a sharp fall in profitability, with its pre-tax profits slumping 80% to
S$92,000 ($65,700) in the third quarter, down from a pre-tax profit of
S$460,000 in the same quarter a year earlier.
The company reported a challenging environment for reprocessing waste
into metals and energy products.
"The current slowdown in the global economy will have an impact on the
volume and price of E-Waste. The company will respond to the situation
accordingly," it said, adding that a cut in metals trading lay at the heart of
a fall in revenues that ultimately caused the slump in profit.
--Dave Ernsberger, dave_ernsberger@platts.com