InfoSAWIT, CHINA – Biodiesel imports from China to European Union (EU) drastically got decreased up to 91% in July 2024 for the temporary anti-dumping duties by EU. The latest data from Eurostat revealed biodiesel imports from China just reached 9.835 metric ton (MT) in July, significantly got decreased from 109.457 MT in the previous month. The numbers would be the lowest one since April 2021.

As InfoSAWIT quoted from Quantum Commodity Intelligence, Thursday (19/9/2024), EU started implementing anti-dumping duties temporarily between 12,8% to 36,4% for cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) imports for biodiesel and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) from China in July. This would be about to protect biodiesel industries in the continent from dumping that EU would deliver losses. Nevertheless, biodiesel imports from China still showed discrepancy with export data in China that showed higher that reached 74.343 MT in May and 43.412 MT in June 2024.

The data discrepancy raised concern about the ‘gap’ possibility in sustainable certificates that were used to avoid anti-dumping duties. The traders indicated, there could be potential to substitute sustainability evidence between biofuel that got customs permits (T2) and biofuel that did not get customs permit (T1), as the solution.

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. (T2)