Biodiesel hits export record

Germany's biodiesel industry proves to be strong competition for its international counterparts.

The German biodiesel industry hit a new export record last year, with exports reaching almost 1.6 million tonnes.

The Agricultural Market Information Company (AMI) gave an appraisal based on data from the Federal Statistical Office, which shows that the number of exports have increased by 20%, or nearly 350,000 tonnes, since 2012.

Biodiesel imports also dropped from 0.76 to 0.56 million tonnes during this period too.

The Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen (UFOP) believes these figures are a result of punitive tariffs imposed on Argentina and Indonesia. Therefore, less than 7,500 tonnes of biodiesel were imported from Indonesia.

The US is the most crucial partner outside of the European Union, as it has 180,000 tonnes of biodiesel.