In Mexico, an agreement in principle has been reached for a free trade deal between it and the European Union that will include among other products a tariff rate quota of 25,000 metric tons of annual ethanol exports to EU countries that will be phased in over five years. More than 85% of trade lines […]
In China, Platts reports that ethanol imports in March rose more than 20,000% to 176,468 cu m, compared to just 2,457 cu m in March 2017. As a result, quarterly imports hit a whopping 494,823 cu m thanks to US ethanol that is so cheap, traders are making money importing ethanol despite a 30% import […]
In Brazil, Reuters reports that sugar mills went gung ho on ethanol production during the first half of April, with 993 million liters produced during the two week period, taking up a whopping 68.5% of the more than 22.21 million metric tons of sugarcane crushed during the period. The volume includes 26.8 million liters of […]
In Switzerland, Platts reports that the UK will prioritize waste feedstocks under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation but in a way that will be complimentary with crop-based fuels. The new amended law that came into effect on April 15 sees a cap on crop-based fuels phased in through 2032 while new sub-targets for advanced and […]
In the UK, Greenpeace’s Unearthed reports that a diplomatic telegram sent on December 19, 2017 to the UK’s Foreign Office from the British high commission in Kuala Lumpur show Malaysia was looking to develop countermeasures against the European Union if they chose to ban palm oil as proposed by the European Parliament in a January […]
In Mexico, researchers from the National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock Research are making headway on the production of biodiesel from pine nuts with three high oil yielding varieties have been selected from clones sourced from the national germplasm bank. The three varieties will be promoted to farmers seeking to develop pine plantations where […]
In Washington, former Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Jim Talent (R-MO), who played key roles in developing the RFS, called for Congress to investigate the EPA’s recent waivers to major refiners and failure to follow the law. ‘Who better to help clarify the intent of these small refinery exemptions than those who helped write the […]
In Washington, the EPA’s recent actions in exempting small refineries from their Renewable Fuel Standard blending obligations for 2016 and 2017 have effectively lowered the volumetric obligations by at least 1.6 billion gallons, according to an analysis of the agency’s own monthly compliance data by the Renewable Fuels Association. The Secretary of Agriculture told the […]
In California, Aemetis, Inc. announced that its Universal Biofuels subsidiary completed the production of high quality distilled biodiesel from lower quality, high Free Fatty Acid (FFA) waste feedstock using the recently constructed pre-treatment unit at the biorefinery located on the East Coast of India. Using the lower cost, high FFA waste feedstock, the pre-treatment unit allows […]
In Brazil, thanks to anticipated increased demand for hydrous ethanol as mills take advantage of higher returns compared to sugar while also keeping prices at the pump low enough to encourage demand, Platts reports that mills also expect to earn smaller premiums for anhydrous ethanol than in previous years as a result of the focus […]
