JAKARTA — European agricultural trader Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) is preparing a third glycerin refining plant in Indonesia, adding to its facilities in the U.S. and Germany as it bets on rising global demand for the material used in a range of applications like cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

LDC is set to begin construction of the glycerin refinery by the end of December in Indonesia’s Lampung province on the island of Sumatra, where it already has a palm oil refinery, biodiesel plant and its own deep sea port. The company sources palm oil fruit to feed the existing facilities from its smallholder farm partners in Indonesia — the world’s largest producer and exporter of palm oil, which is widely found in vegetable oil.