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The World’s Best Import Markets for Biodiesel

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Global Trade Daily

The World’s Best Import Markets for Biodiesel

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In recent years, there has been a growing global interest in sustainable energy sources as countries strive to reduce their carbon footprint and mitigate the effects of climate change. One such sustainable energy source gaining popularity is biodiesel, which is a renewable alternative to traditional fossil fuels. Biodiesel is made from biological sources such as vegetable oils and animal fats, making it an environmentally friendly alternative.

The import market for biodiesel has seen significant growth as countries look to meet their energy needs while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In this article, we will explore the world’s best import markets for biodiesel, using data from the IndexBox market intelligence platform.

1. Netherlands

The Netherlands is the top importer of biodiesel, with an import value of 8.9 billion USD in 2022 according to the IndexBox platform. The country has embraced renewable energy sources and has been proactive in adopting biodiesel as an alternative fuel. The Netherlands has implemented policies to promote the use of biodiesel, leading to a significant increase in imports.

2. Belgium

Following closely behind the Netherlands, Belgium has an import value of 6.3 billion USD in 2022. The country has also been at the forefront of renewable energy adoption and has seen a surge in biodiesel imports in recent years. The government has implemented policies to encourage the use of biodiesel, leading to a thriving import market.

3. France

France ranks third in terms of import value, with 3.3 billion USD in 2022. The country has been actively promoting renewable energy sources and has set ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Biodiesel is a key component of France’s energy transition strategy, leading to a substantial increase in imports.

4. Germany

Germany is another significant player in the import market for biodiesel, with an import value of 3.1 billion USD in 2022. The country has been a leader in renewable energy adoption and has implemented policies to encourage the use of biodiesel. As a result, the import market for biodiesel in Germany has experienced substantial growth.

5. Spain

Spain is also among the top import markets for biodiesel, with an import value of 2.9 billion USD in 2022. The country has been investing in renewable energy sources, including biodiesel, to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. As a result, Spain has witnessed a significant increase in biodiesel imports.

6. Italy

Italy ranks sixth in terms of import value, with 2.6 billion USD in 2022. The country has been actively promoting sustainable energy sources and has set ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Biodiesel plays a crucial role in Italy’s renewable energy mix, leading to a robust import market.

7. United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is another notable importer of biodiesel, with an import value of 2.5 billion USD in 2022. The country has been actively investing in renewable energy sources and has implemented policies to promote the use of biodiesel. This has resulted in a significant increase in biodiesel imports.

8. United States

The United States, despite being a major producer of biodiesel, also imports a significant volume of biodiesel. The country has an import value of 1.4 billion USD in 2022. The United States has been increasing its renewable energy efforts and has set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Biodiesel imports complement the domestic production to fulfill the country’s energy needs.

9. Canada

Canada, like the United States, is a significant producer of biodiesel but also imports a substantial volume. The country has an import value of 1.4 billion USD in 2022. Canada has been actively promoting the adoption of renewable energy sources, including biodiesel, and imports to meet its energy requirements.

10. Bulgaria

Rounding off the top ten import markets for biodiesel is Bulgaria, with an import value of 1.1 billion USD in 2022. The country has been working towards reducing its reliance on fossil fuels and has been actively promoting the use of biodiesel. This has led to a steady increase in the import market for biodiesel in Bulgaria.

In conclusion, the import market for biodiesel is experiencing significant growth, driven by countriesefforts to reduce their carbon footprint and transition to renewable energy sources. The Netherlands leads the pack with the highest import value, followed closely by Belgium and France. Germany, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and Bulgaria also make it to the top ten import markets for biodiesel. These countries have embraced biodiesel as a sustainable alternative to traditional fossil fuels, driving the import market growth. Note: The data used in this article is sourced from the IndexBox market intelligence platform.

Source: IndexBox Market Intelligence Platform

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Archives, Global Trade Daily, Imports/Exports, News

U.S. Ethanol Market: Prices Are Soaring, Bioethanol Displaces Synthetic Alcohol

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IndexBox has just published a new report: ‘U.S. – Ethyl Alcohol – Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights.‘ Here is a summary of the report’s key findings.

In November 2021, U.S. ethanol prices hit over $3.2 per gallon, doubling against the same period in 2020. Despite this, the last factory in the U.S. producing synthetic ethanol announced ceasing operations because it cannot compete with bioethanol in terms of costs. Government investments worth $26M will drive U.S. biofuel infrastructure development. A conflict between biofuel producers and the Environmental Protection Agency is coming to a head because the agency delayed issuing the 2022 Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO). This document was expected to propel the bioethanol market by elevating the standards for the biofuel percentage used in blends with traditional gasoline and diesel.

Key Trend and Insights

According to the USDA, the Eastern Cornbelt average ethanol price grew from $1.4 per gallon in January to more than $3.2 per gallon in November 2021. The most significant gains were seen past month when prices for the alcohol leapt up by more than 30%.

In the U.S., ethanol fuel production has rebounded since its downturn the previous year. According to the EIA, throughout the first eight months of 2021, there were 3.9M barrels of ethyl alcohol produced. In the same period of 2020 and 2019, 3.7M barrels and 4.0M barrels were manufactured, respectively.

Global demand for American ethanol is growing. In the first nine months of 2021, U.S. exports of ethyl alcohol consisted of $1.83B, which is 5.8% more than the same period in 2020. During the twelfth Ministerial-level meeting of the India-U.S. Trade Policy Forum, the Indian side expressed interest in obtaining a massive supply of the alcohol from the US. India’s national goals call for increasing the amount of ethanol blended with petrol to 20% by 2025.

Even though the growth in demand and increased prices are beneficial for U.S. ethanol producers, the last synthetic ethanol facility in the U.S., Tuscola Plant, owned by petrochemical giant LyondellBasell, announced that it would close at the end of 2021. Faced with rapidly increasing costs for resources and energy, specifically ethylene and natural gas, synthetic ethanol cannot compete with bioethanol. Meanwhile, prices for corn, which is widely used to produce the alcohol, have gone down this year: Eastern Cornbelt average corn price decreased from $7.60 per bushel in May to $5.60 in November.

Government policies will stimulate development in the bioethanol market. The U.S. Agriculture Department announced that it would invest $26M into building biofuel infrastructure in 23 states as part of the ‘Higher Blends’ program. The subsidies will stimulate replacing old-style fuel pumps and storage tanks with blended pumps and tanks suitable for E15 and E85 fuels, as well as biodiesel. The USDA projects that the grants will help increase potential sales for biofuels by 822M gallons per year.

The relationship between biofuel producers and government bodies worsens, threatening to become a severe conflict. Growth Energy, the leading American trade association advancing biofuel usage, submitted a notice of intent to sue the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to issue on time the 2022 Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO), which regulates the blending standards of biofuels with traditional automotive fuels. By retaining the status quo for the RVO, current standards won’t be reevaluated to increase the percentage of green energy sources used and thus hinder growth in the biofuel market.

U.S. Ethyl Alcohol Exports

In 2020, exports of ethyl alcohol from the U.S. reduced to 6.5B litres, falling by -7.7% against the year before. In value terms, ethanol exports contracted to $2.4B (IndexBox estimates) in 2020.

Canada (1.5B litres), Brazil (946M litres) and India (898M litres) were the main destinations of ethanol exports from the U.S., together comprising 52% of total exports. South Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, Colombia, the Philippines, Peru, Nigeria, the UK and China lagged somewhat behind, together comprising a further 37%.

In value terms, Canada ($596M), Brazil ($318M) and India ($312M) appeared to be the largest markets for ethanol exported from the U.S. worldwide, with a combined 51% share of total exports. South Korea, the Netherlands, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, the Philippines, Nigeria, the UK and China lagged somewhat behind, together accounting for a further 37%.

In 2020, the average ethanol export price amounted to $0.4 per litre, rising by 6.1% against the previous year. Prices varied noticeably by the country of destination; the country with the highest price was the Netherlands ($0.5 per litre), while the average price for exports to the Philippines ($0.3 per litre) was amongst the lowest. In 2020, the most notable rate of growth in terms of prices was recorded for supplies to the Netherlands, while the prices for the other significant destinations experienced more modest paces of growth.

Source: IndexBox Platform 

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The Global Biodiesel Market Retains Robust Growth Despite the Pandemic and Low Oil Prices

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IndexBox has just published a new report: ‘World – Biodiesel – Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends And Insights’. Here is a summary of the report’s key findings.

Neither the pandemic nor the low oil prices succeeded in slowing the growth of the global biodiesel market. As economies worldwide start to recover from the Covid crisis, and environmental concerns increase, the demand is set to remain robust in 2021. 

Key Trends and Insights

In 2020, the demand for biodiesel declined to 39.5M tonnes after five years of solid growth, largely a result of reduced transport activity during the pandemic. In 2021, global biodiesel consumption started to recover robustly. Despite the low prices for conventional types of fuel, the global energy market is striving to adhere to the Paris Agreement by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and making a shift towards using sustainable forms of energy, which is to promote the use of biofuels.

The European market became especially attractive for Asian exporters in the first half of 2021: local biofuel producers were forced to cut output against high prices in the EU for vegetable oils. The biofuel shortage in Europe could be offset by supplies of palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, but in 2019, the European Union intended to secure the gradual phasing out of palm oil as a viable fuel. This is spurred by the concern regarding tropical rainforests destroyed while expanding palm plantations, which depreciates any positive effect for the environment that could be achieved from the use of biofuel.

In 2021, American biofuel producers initiated a rapid rise in production but faced the risk of a shortage of raw materials. Assuming the demand for biodiesel to increase, the USA plans to see a fivefold increase in biofuel production capacity by 2024.

The global demand for fuels is set to increase along with the recovery of the global economy from the pandemic. Rising environmental concerns worldwide become a new powerful trend transforming the global energy market. Since biodiesel meets the green agenda, it should enjoy accelerated market growth in the medium term. It is forecast that the biodiesel market is set to develop at an average annual rate of +4.9% through to 2030, to approx. 63М tonnes.

Biodiesel Consumption by Country

The countries with the highest volumes of biodiesel consumption in 2020 were Indonesia (6.2M tonnes), the U.S. (5.6M tonnes) and Brazil (5.4M tonnes), together comprising 44% of global consumption.

In value terms, Brazil ($5.8B), Indonesia ($5B) and the U.S. ($4.7B) constituted the countries with the highest levels of market value in 2020, together accounting for 42% of the global market.

The countries with the highest levels of biodiesel per capita consumption in 2020 were the Netherlands (55 kg per person), France (40 kg per person) and Spain (34 kg per person).

Biodiesel Exports and Imports by Country

In 2020, overseas shipments of biodiesel decreased by -11.8% to 16M tonnes for the first time since 2015, thus ending a four-year rising trend. In value terms, biodiesel exports fell to $15.9B (IndexBox estimates) in 2020.

In 2020, the Netherlands (4.7M tonnes), distantly followed by Germany (2.3M tonnes), Belgium (1.6M tonnes), Spain (1.5M tonnes) and Argentina (0.8M tonnes) were the key exporters of biodiesel, together comprising 66% of total exports. The following exporters – China (665K tonnes), Malaysia (564K tonnes), Bulgaria (494K tonnes), the U.S. (476K tonnes), Canada (397K tonnes), France (397K tonnes), Poland (365K tonnes) and Italy (265K tonnes) – together made up 22% of total exports.

Among the main exporting countries, China (+51.3% per year) saw the highest growth rate of the value of exports, over the period under review, while shipments for the other global leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.

In 2020, after five years of growth, there was a significant decline in supplies from abroad of biodiesel, when their volume decreased by -7.4% to 16M tonnes. In value terms, biodiesel imports contracted modestly to $15.9B in 2020.

In 2020, the Netherlands (3.9M tonnes), distantly followed by Belgium (1.8M tonnes), Germany (1.5M tonnes), Spain (1.2M tonnes), the UK (1.1M tonnes), France (1.1M tonnes), Italy (1.1M tonnes) and China (0.8M tonnes) were the key importers of biodiesel, together making up 77% of total imports. The U.S. (674K tonnes), Canada (518K tonnes), Poland (319K tonnes) and Bulgaria (276K tonnes) took a little share of total imports.

Source: IndexBox AI Platform