Biodiesel imports almost doubled in 2018

In Germany, the latest statistics for 2018 imports of biodiesel to Germany show a sharp increase over 2017 imports. UFOP reports that the rise was triggered by overabundant supply of state-subsidized and consequently low-priced biodiesel from Argentina. UFOP fears that a similar development will take place after the EU Commission’s ongoing anti-subsidy proceedings against Indonesia have been concluded.

In the 2018 calendar year, biodiesel imports including HVO (hydrogenated vegetable oils) increased more than 50 per cent on the year. Rising from around 790,000 tonnes in 2017, the volume clearly passed the one million mark in 2018, reaching 1.2 million tonnes.

The largest quantity came from neighbouring EU countries. The Netherlands continued to be Germany’s main supplier. The country supplied in excess of 620,000 tonnes of biodiesel/HVO in 2018, more than twice the previous year’s amount. The Netherlands are the biggest producer of HVO (1.2 million tonnes in 2018). According to Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (AMI), the largest share of production goes into exports, since annual domestic use is less than 400,000 tonnes of biodiesel/HVO.