Germany based biodiesel facility to stop production

Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) has announced that its biodiesel facility in Mainz is to temporarily cease production.

A representative for the company told Biofuels International over email that production was planned to come to a halt at the end of March, ‘once all sales have been satisfied.’

The original statement announcing the temporary cessation of production said it was expected to last ‘at least the duration of quarter two, and will be reviewed during quarter three. [2018]’

The company has made clear the reasons for the temporary cutting back of European production.

“Since September 2017, the European Union has seen an influx of imported biodiesel which has placed significant pressure on the local market, impacting profitability for European-based producers,” the announcement reads.

“With continued imports and increasingly poor margins, the company has taken the difficult decision to cut back production in the region.”

 

Testing times

ADM’s decision comes in the wake of the recent announcement that the EU has removed anti-dumping duties on biodiesel imports from Indonesia.

Since 2013, a dispute has been raging between the EU biodiesel industry and Argentina and Indonesia over alleged ‘dumping of biodiesel. The EU placed anti-dumping duties on Argentinian and Indonesian biodiesel, but appeals to the World Trade Organisation and the European Court of Justice have seen those tariffs lifted.

The European biodiesel industry claims that Argentinian and Indonesian biodiesel imports are posing a threat to the EU’s biodiesel market, and the jobs it supports.

Back in 2011, ADM was the ‘first’ company to achieve International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) to supply sustainably grown soybeans to the European market. This made the company the first to provide soy meeting the requirements of the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive for biofuels feedstocks.

Based in the US and registered on the New York Stock Exchange, ADM is one of the world’s largest agricultural processors, producing renewable chemicals and a range of other crop based products, as well as biofuels.

 

This article was written by Daryl Worthington, editor of Biofuels International