Wednesday Edition

04.01.09

GLOBAL

Airlines may gain approval to start using biofuels as early as 2010 and find commercially viable solutions within five years, the International Air Transport Association said.

The first ever over-the-counter (OTC) biodiesel paper swap has been brokered by Starsupply Renewables, through CME Group's ClearPort system. The trade between two European biodiesel trading houses was for April 2009 RME.

Noble Group will start trading physical fuel oil globally for the first time in years after hiring five traders from Trafigura. The fuel oil business is due to start on April 1.

NORTH AMERICA

A new policy to reduce ship pollution within 200 miles of US shores has been proposed by the US EPA. Under the new proposal, US and foreign-flagged ships will be required to use cleaner fuel and more effective pollution controls for their engines.

Northeast Biofuels has asked a US Bankruptcy Judge for permission to sell their biodiesel plant in Volney, NY. The $200 million facility had design flaws that resulted in issues with its piping system.

Nova Biosource Fuels has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize its biodiesel business. The company has up to $50 million of both liabilities and assets and had a first-quarter net loss of $11 million.

Lightning Hybrids of Loveland, CO will unveil its biodiesel, hybrid car this week at the Denver auto show. The company claims that the car will be able to travel 100 miles on one gallon of fuel.

SOUTH AMERICA

Argentine farmers and government leaders met again Tuesday, with both sides leaving no indication that any resolution to their long-running conflict is in sight. However, the farmers did not call another strike.

Colombian state oil company Ecopetrol expects to launch its 100,000 mt per year biodiesel plant in October, later than the initially projected date of March 2009. The delay was due to a technical problem, according to the company.

EUROPE

West European oilseed crops are developing well, with production seen falling slightly below last year's harvest, Reuters reports. "Current harvest forecasts are highly tentative but EU supplies look plentiful which could place a burden on a market suffering from low demand from biodiesel production and high unsold stocks from the very good 2008 crop," one analyst said.

In Spain, ACCIONA Biocombustibles has started operations at its 200,000 mt per year biodiesel plant in the Port of Bilbao. The facility is expected to make a 27% contribution to Spain’s 2009 biodiesel target.

ASIA / PACIFIC

Over 12 companies have expressed interest in investing $1.1 billion in the Philippine biodiesel industry, Philippine Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said. Reyes said the industry had witnessed a growth in biodiesel investments in the last four years, resulting in a 623% increase in aggregate domestic production capacity to over 100 million gallons.

AFRICA

China has asked Zambia to plant 2 million ha of jatropha in the country for biofuels. If agreed, the deal could become one of the largest farming land ventures by an Asian or Middle Eastern country in Africa.

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