PALMOILMAGAZINE, CHINA – Biodiesel imports from China to the European Union (EU) plummeted by 91% in July 2024 due to the EU’s temporary anti-dumping duties. Eurostat data shows that imports from China dropped to 9,835 metric tons (MT) in July, down from 109,457 MT in the previous month, marking the lowest level since April 2021.
According to Quantum Commodity Intelligence, as cited by Palmoilmagazine.com on Thursday (19/9/2024), the EU imposed temporary anti-dumping duties ranging from 12.8% to 36.4% on biodiesel and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) imports from China starting in July.
This measure aims to protect the European biodiesel industry from the adverse effects of dumping practices. However, discrepancies arose between China’s export data and EU import figures, with China reporting higher exports of 74,343 MT in May and 43,412 MT in June 2024.
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These discrepancies have raised concerns about potential gaps in sustainable certification, which traders suggest could be exploited to bypass anti-dumping duties. Traders suspect a possible substitution of sustainability evidence between biofuel shipments with customs permits (T2) and those without (T1) as a workaround.
Xavier Noyon, General Secretary of European Biodiesel Board (EBB) that proposed the first complaint to encourage tariff, did welcome the decreasing (biodiesel) imports. “The latest import data showed that the trade was successful and delivering relief for EU industries. But the potential to avoid duties would be still our concer,” Noyon said.
He continued, EBB identified the ‘gap’ in the regulation, such as, the application of incoming process and the mass balance between biodiesel storage in T1 and T2.
EBB would conduct dialogue with the legislators and deliver strong evidences about the potential to avoid duties, and contact the authority in the EU level and national scale to follow up this issue.
EU Biodiesel Import and Export
Even though biodiesel imports from China got decreased, EU biodiesel imports totally decreased 15,3% to be 190.546 MT in July, the lowest level since March 2024. It was helped by the increasing biodiesel imports from Malaysia that reached 24,4% to be 46.526 MT, the highest numbers since November 2023. The imports from Sout Korea got escalated to be 12.000 MT from zero percent in the previous month. Besides, the imports from United Kingdom got escalated 16,2% to be 30.831 MT, and Swiss got increased 14,1% to be 26.853 MT. But the imports from Argentina got decreased 18,1% to be 34.504 MT.
Meanwhile, biodiesel exports from EU got increased more than twice in July, or about 117.198 MT. It happened for the exports to USA that reached 60.160 MT, more than half of the total exports of EU in the same month. The exports to United Kingdom did too to be 39.033 MT, while the exports to Spain and Netherland significantly did increase. (P2)
