Source: Oleoscope (Russia)
The European Union plans to impose temporary tariffs on Chinese biodiesel after finding it being sold at unreasonably low prices on EU markets. Chinese companies exported 1.8 million tons of biodiesel to the European Union in 2023, accounting for 90% of all Chinese biodiesel exports.
The European Commission, which oversees EU trade policy in this area, has proposed temporary tariffs of between 12.8 percent and 36.4 percent for five years, Reuters reports.
For biodiesel, the proposed tariffs are 12.8 percent for products from EcoCeres Group, 36.4 percent for Jiaao Group including Zhejiang Jiaao Enproenergy Co and 25.4 percent for exports from Zhuoyue Group including Longyan Zhuoyue New Energy Co.
The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which filed the complaint, said earlier this month that the influx of biodiesel from China is having a devastating impact on EU production. Chevron Renewable Energy Group has put German workers on unpaid leave, Shell has suspended construction of a Dutch plant, BP is suspending a project in Germany and Argent Energy has closed a biodiesel processing plant, the EBB said.
The European Waste and Advanced Biofuels Association welcomed the measures, adding that it expects them to lead to a normalization of market conditions from the end of 2022 after an “extremely unfavorable” situation.
Last year, Chinese biodiesel caused rapeseed oil prices in the EU to plummet, falling to their lowest level in three years amid a crisis in the biofuels sector. Global biodiesel production is expected to reach a record 76.3 million tons this year, an increase of 7% on the previous year.