BIOFUEL producer D1 Oils completed its first full day of trading on the stock exchange yesterday but said the hard work still lay ahead.

The Teesside company floated on the Alternative Investment Market(Aim) with a valuation of £34.4m.

A delegation from the company, including D1 chairman Karl Watkins, was in London yesterday for the launch and were asked to ring the bell to signal the close of trading at the end of the day.

Mr Watkins said the company, which produces environmentally-friendly biofuel, had made great strides since its formation three years ago, but that there was still a long way to go.

He said: "We've managed to get a really good valuation for the business and the floatation is obviously very exciting.

"But this is just the start of our work. The next few years are going to be critical for the company, with new directives on stopping climate change running in our favour."

Next year, the UK will take over chairmanship of the G8, the body representing the world's eight most powerful economies.

In a speech last month, Prime Minister Tony Blair outlined his three main goals for his tenure of the G8 as cutting carbon emissions, increasing use of renewable fuels and tackling global poverty.

Mr Watkins said D1's business plan was in line with Mr Blair's aims for the G8.

"We are in a great position to capitalise on Tony Blair's plans for the G8," he said.

"All of our aims for the business address the three major issues he has identified."

The company raised £13m from the flotation, which it plans to invest in a research and development centre in Teesside and on developing its overseas business.

D1 specialises in growing crops that can be used to produce energy, including the harvesting, extracting and processing of crude vegetable oil for refining into biodiesel.

It has identified jatropha, a non-edible tree that can produce oil-bearing seeds over a 20-year life span, as its preferred crop.

The company has plantation rights for 37,000 hectares of land in Africa and Asia to cultivate jatropha and has an option on a further six million hectares.

D1 finance director Alex Worrall said: "The flotation is a big event for us. It is the culmination of three years hard work."