In Argentina, the government plans to introduce a 26% ethanol blending mandate from next year, a major increase from the current 12%, that will bring the country in line with other countries in the region such as Brazil and Paraguay who both have ethanol mandates of 25% or higher. The blend was raised from 10% in February to counteract the current energy shortage. The biodiesel industry also got good news Monday when the government cut the export levy on biodiesel to 3.65% for April, down from 6.4% for March.