Trade in biofuels

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Information about international trade in biofuel feedstocks and products.

Contents

Imports

Exports

Policy

Ethanol and Biodiesel Import Duties
Country Ethanol (US$/L) Biodiesel
Australia $0.241
Brazil $0.701
Canada $0.501
EU $0.101 ad valorem duty of 6.5%2
Japan $01
New Zealand $01
United States $0.141
Source: 1: IEA, 2: [http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/ditcted20064_en.pdf THE EMERGING BIOFUELS MARKET:

REGULATORY, TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT IMPLICATIONS (PDF)] - UNCTAD, 2006 p. 12.

Tariffs

Events

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

  • 4 December 2007, Bali, Indonesia (side event at United Nations Conference on Climate Change): Towards a Strategy for Sustainable Production and Trade of Bioenergy. Organised by ICTSD and in collaboration with IEA Bioenergy Task 40 and Stockholm Environment Institute.
    • From the description: "Given the divide between regions with the largest demand and those with the highest production potential, international trade in biofuels and feedstocks is expected to grow in the years to come. Several trade and policy issues arise in this context, relating to the removing of barriers to international trade and to the crafting of trade rules, but also to the broader implications for trade in agriculture and industrial products that are involved in the production and processing of biofuels....This event will bring together a panel of experts from intergovernmental organisations, government and policy research institutions to address this vast array of economic, social and environmental questions that arise as countries formulate their policies on biofuels."[2]

News

  • Rival Ethanol Trade Groups Campaigning to Woo Senators, Clobber Each Other, 13 April 2010 by Greenwire/New York Times: "Two rival trade groups seeking congressional help for the ethanol industry launched advertising yesterday to promote themselves and bash one another."
    • "Growth Energy Inc., which represents U.S.-based corn ethanol producers, seeks to maintain supremacy at home, while the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association, or UNICA, wants to tear down corn ethanol's benefits in order to grab a larger share of the U.S. market."
    • "Growth Energy wants an extension of tax credits as well as to maintain an import tariff against ethanol produced in other countries and to promote the construction of ethanol pipelines and blender pumps. UNICA seeks elimination of the import tariff and of domestic subsidies for biofuels."[3]
  • Participatory Market Mapping in the PISCES project in Kenya, 7 May 2010 by HEDON Household Energy Network: "The PISCES project is looking at ways of giving poor people easier access to cheap and renewable energy options, specifically focussing on the potential of biofuels."
    • "Markets matter to the rural poor. It is increasingly clear that in tackling rural poverty, market-related issues - including access to information, institutions, linkages and trade rules - are vital considerations. Failure to address these issues means that the benefits of other developments threaten to by-pass the rural poor."
    • This article includes links to a podcast on the mapping project as well as supporting documents.[4]
  • IFPRI Publishes Study on the EU Biofuels Mandate, by The International Food Policy Research Institute: "The report is one of four commissioned by the European Commission to assess the impacts of the 10% target for the use of renewable energy in road transport fuels by 2020."
    • "The study uses a global general equilibrium model, separately including numerous first generation ethanol and biodiesel feedstocks, co-generated products, farming techniques, as well as direct, and indirect land-use changes (ILUC) resulting from the mandated increase in consumption of biofuels. Additionally, as the model is global, it also considers different multi- and bilateral trade scenarios."
    • "The results indicate that there is ILUC associated with the EU mandate, but that the mandate will still result in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emission savings of nearly 13 million tons over 20 years. Additionally, the authors find that the mandate will have only a negligible effect on food prices and, concerning biodiesel, even with ILUC taken into account, imported palm oil remains as efficient as European rapeseed."[5]
  • EU slaps duties on U.S. biodiesel imports: sources, 3 March 2009 by Reuters: "A key European Union trade panel approved on Tuesday temporary anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on imports of biodiesel from the United States, sources with knowledge of the decision said."
    • "From March 13, U.S. firms exporting biodiesel into the EU will have to pay additional tariffs for an initial six months, ranging from 26 euros ($32.88) to 41 euros per 100 kg."
    • "The EU firms say exporters in the United States are involved in so-called 'splash and dash,' whereby they import cheaper biodiesel from countries such as Brazil and add less than 5 percent of U.S. mineral diesel so they can pick up the subsidy from Washington before exporting to Europe."[6]
  • Weak oil and imports turn EU biofuel boom to gloom, 24 February 2009 by Reuters: "European euphoria over biofuel has ended after slumping oil prices and cheap imports battered the sector last year, while the credit crisis has made the outlook even gloomier."
    • "European producers of biodiesel -- by far the main biofuel made in the bloc -- also blamed their troubles on cheap subsidized imports, mainly from the United States."
    • "The European Commission, the EU executive, plans next month to propose imposing anti-dumping duties on U.S. biodiesel, a measure that could provisionally take effect a month later, sources familiar with the proposal told Reuters last week."[7]
  • US and EU urged to cut biofuels, 7 July 2008, BBC World News: "World Bank President Robert Zoellick has called for reform of biofuel policies in rich countries, urging them to grow more food to feed the hungry."
  • Biofuels Battle: Tear Down The Brazilian Wall, 1 July 2008 in the Wall Street Journal's Environmental Capital blog: "Biofuels have few friends lately. But Brazil’s biofuel industry found a big one —- U.S. Senator Richard Lugar."
    • "Sen. Lugar thinks Brazilian ethanol -- made from sugarcane rather than corn -- could help lower U.S. gasoline prices, which have reached record levels. Unica, not surprisingly, thinks the same, and blames Washington’s $0.54 per gallon tariff on Brazilian ethanol for American pain at the pump."

Publications



Trade edit
International cooperation edit

International cooperation: International financing | South-South cooperation | Technology transfer
International organizations
International policy: Multilateral agreements: International Biofuels Forum | Core Agriculture Support Program |
Kyoto Protocol: Clean Development Mechanism
Bilateral agreements: Brazil-Indonesia Consultative Committee on Biofuels | US-Brazil ethanol partnership
United Nations: June 2008 UN food conference


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