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# Bain Capital Bets on SAF Mandates as EcoCeres Prepares Its Hong Kong IPO
- URL: https://review.iffw.sg/bain-capital-bets-on-saf-mandates-as-ecoceres-prepares-its-hong-kong-ipo/
- Published: 2026-10-06T00:30:05.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-06T00:30:05.000Z
- Description: Bain Capital's James Tam, co-chair of EcoCeres, expects SAF mandates to drive long-term growth and sees China requiring SAF in coming years. EcoCeres plans a 450,000-tonne Dongguan plant by 2030 and a Hong Kong IPO, despite weak current demand and spare capacity.
- Author: Editor
- Tags: News, Aviation, SAF

Bain Capital, a major shareholder in sustainable aviation fuel producer EcoCeres, expects blending mandates in several countries to drive long-term SAF demand growth, and sees China introducing such a requirement in the coming years, according to Bain partner and EcoCeres co-chair James Tam in an interview with Reuters. Tam described the SAF sector as being at the start of a multi-decade expansion as rules requiring airlines to cut emissions spread from Europe to Asia, arguing that "SAF is almost the only commercially available solution to decarbonise aviation" because hydrogen or electric planes for long-haul flights are not close.

### The Market Context Tam Is Speaking Into 

The comments arrive against a backdrop the article itself states plainly: the industry faces weak demand and substantial spare production capacity, as airlines balk at paying large premiums for SAF. The International Air Transport Association said in June that an estimated 2.4 million tonnes of SAF would be produced in 2026, just 0.8% of global jet fuel demand and a sign of slowing growth, while production capacity is expected to exceed 9 million tonnes. EcoCeres, which Reuters describes as the world's second-largest SAF producer by capacity, is preparing a Hong Kong initial public offering that Reuters reported last month could raise about US$1 billion; Tam declined to comment on the IPO's details.

### Where Policy Signals Stand in China and Hong Kong 

Tam said SAF's inclusion in China's 15th Five-Year Plan signals that domestic mandates are on the horizon, though exact targets have not been announced; the plan, approved in March, lists SAF among fuels to be developed but sets no aviation-specific targets. Separately, Hong Kong's first Five-Year Plan, published in September, targets SAF accounting for 1% to 3% of fuel for departing flights in 2030, and backs developing SAF production in Dongguan, Guangdong province.

### The Dongguan Plant, in Tam's Account 

EcoCeres plans a 450,000-tonne-a-year plant in Dongguan, due to open by 2030, to supply airports in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Tam said the timeline is firm and that the reported HK$10 billion investment covers a 10-year build-out, with the refinery itself costing "meaningfully less." He noted that meeting the top of Hong Kong's target would take nearly half the plant's output, with any surplus potentially exported to Europe, where the EU has mandated 6% SAF by 2030.

### How EcoCeres Describes Its Own Position 

Bain invested more than US$700 million in EcoCeres in 2022, when it was the second company after Finland's Neste to commercialise SAF production, according to Tam. EcoCeres supplies airlines including Qantas, Air France, British Airways and Cathay Pacific, with combined renewable fuels capacity of about 770,000 tonnes a year at plants in Zhangjiagang in eastern China and Johor, Malaysia. Tam said that, unlike some rivals, EcoCeres owns its full technology stack and does not rely on third-party technology licensors or catalyst suppliers, which he says gives it a cost advantage, and that its feedstocks are entirely waste-based, including used cooking oil collected from 500,000 restaurants across China and traceable to each one, which he called a key selling point for airlines. These are statements from an investor and co-chair of the company rather than independently verified claims.

*Source:* [*The Standard*](https://www.thestandard.com.hk/finance/article/343784/Bain-backed-renewable-fuel-maker-EcoCeres-targets-US1-billion-Hong-Kong-IPO-sources-say?ref=review.iffw.sg)*, 5 October 2026.*