Biodiesel imports into Europe decline, latest statistics reveal

Imports of biodiesel from China dropped to 9,835 mt in July down from 109,457 mt in June.
This is the lowest point since April 2021, according to the latest Eurostat data.
Xavier Noyon, secretary general of the European Biodiesel Board (EBB), said: “Recent import data from Eurostat suggests that the long-anticipated provisional duties on biodiesel imports from China are working, bringing much-needed relief to the EU industry.
“This will help rebalance the scales, but the effects have cut deep and the road to recovery may prove long.
“However, over the past few months, we have identified several loopholes that would allow operators to circumvent anti-dumping duties, as well as other forms of duties. In particular, we have concerns on the use of inward processing and the use of mass balancing (swap of PoS) between storage/tanks of biodiesel in T1 and T2. Those practices already existed but will become even more attractive with the AD duties in place.
“The EBB is interacting with legislators to find the right interlocutors and to provide hard evidence, and has alerted authorities both at EU and National level, but the topic is very complex and involves trade, customs and RED sustainability rules.
“Furthermore, we must reiterate that the EBB has been sounding the alarms for months now on the risk of mislabelled feedstock in the Chinese biodiesel production chain. We remain determined to defend the biodiesel industry’s interests and re-establish a fair trading environment, and in addition to these customs issues, we will also come forward with concrete proposals to reform the verification of sustainability within RED.”