Wednesday Edition

07.07.10

North America

MASSACHUSETTS SUSPENDS BIODIESEL MANDATE
Massachusetts has suspended its biodiesel mandate, scheduled to take effect July 1. State officials said they ran into too many complications trying to write regulations for blending. The expiration of the federal biodiesel tax credit also put biofuels “at a real disadvantage’’ and was a factor in the state’s decision, according to Philip Giudice, commissioner of the Department of Energy Resources.” Read more


SOYBEANS RISE WEDNESDAY
Soybeans rose in Chicago Wednesday as gains by crude-oil futures boosted the appeal of crops processed to make biofuels, Bloomberg reports. Nov.-delivery soybeans climbed 0.6% to $9.0525 a bushel at 12:45 p.m. Paris time, paring an increase of as much as 0.9%.

EVOGENE, NASA DEMONSTRATE CASTOR OIL FOR BIOJET FUEL
Evogene has announced that biojet fuel produced from castor oil meets international standards (ASTM D7566) for alternative aviation fuels. The analysis was conducted in collaboration with NASA, the Air Force Research Laboratory and Honeywell's UOP.

South America

ARGENTINA TO INCREASE BIODIESEL MANDATE THIS WEEK
Argentina will increase it biodiesel blend mandate to 7% from 5% in the next few days, and will raise it again to 10% by the end of the year, Planning Minister Julio De Vido said Tuesday. A resolution was signed Monday to increase the blend, Platts reports.


Europe

ITALY MAY MISS RENEWABLES TARGET
The Italian government warned that Italy could miss its renewable energy target of 17% by 2020 after the cabinet decided to a buy-back mechanism supporting the green certificate market, which is the prime incentive for power generation facilities using biomass, Argus reports.

Asia / Pacific

PALM OIL DROPS TO LOWEST IN SEVEN MONTHS
Palm oil dropped close to the lowest price in over seven months Wednesday as a stronger ringgit eroded the appeal of the commodity amid rising vegetable oils supplies. Futures for Sept. delivery fell as much as 1.4% to close at $705/mt, the lowest price since Nov. 13. Read more


MALAYSIAN CPO EXPORTS TO SLOW IN Q3
Malaysia's palm oil exports may slow in Q3 as demand may slip amid fears of weakening economic activities, ICIS reports. Demand usually picks up leading to holidays in China and India, but exports to India showed a near 46% decline in palm oil imports in the first two weeks of June.

New Zealand

NEW ZEALAND EXPANDS BIOFUEL SUBSIDY
New Zealand has extended its biodiesel subsidy to B100. Previously, only blends up to 20% qualified for the 42.5c-a-litre subsidy. "By extending the eligibility to blends up to and including 100 per cent biodiesel (B100), we provide an incentive for those businesses and individuals who are willing and able to use these higher-level blends," Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee said. Read more


Market Views

IN EU, BIOETHANOL IS MORE PROFITABLE THAN BIODIESEL
Cheaper, local ingredients make bioethanol more profitable, and sustainable, than far more widely produced biodiesel in Europe, even though it adds to a surplus of conventional gasoline while diesel remains more in demand.
"From this perspective biodiesel is complementary to the oil refinery industry in Europe whereas each tonne of bioethanol would increase the surplus of gasoline," said Klaus Henschel, chief executive of Biopetrol, Reuters reports.
However, biodiesel has to be made from vegetable oils, which have to be mostly imported and are far more expensive than locally grown cereals, the main raw material for bioethanol, which can be blended with petrol.

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