USCG updates ongoing lower Mississippi restrictions
The US Coast Guard (USCG) will further limit northbound movement for barges transiting the lower Mississippi River despite slightly higher water levels following Hurricane Francine's landfall late last week.
The USCG announced on 16 September that all northbound traffic traveling from Tunica, Mississippi, to Tiptonville, Tennessee, can only have five barges wide and only four of those can be loaded. Barges also cannot be loaded deeper than 9.5ft.
Any southbound traffic from Vicksburg, Mississippi, to Tunica cannot move more than seven barges wide or be drafted deeper than 10.5ft. Southbound traffic from Tiptonville to Tunica can only be six barges wide or less and cannot have a draft greater than 10ft.
The USCG has updated lower Mississippi river draft restrictions about four times since the end of August, but this is the third year in a row of notable low water for the fall on the lower Mississippi river which has triggered draft restrictions to arrive more quickly than previous years.
Hurricane Francine brought significant rainfall to the lower Mississippi at the end of last week. But this has not eased the minds of mariners, who anticipate the water may leave as quickly as it arrived.
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California regulator floats future LCFS linkage
California regulator floats future LCFS linkage
Monterey, 17 September (Argus) — California would welcome bringing US low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) programs together in a common market, one of the state's top regulators said on Tuesday. Such a linkage is unlikely to occur in the near future, but California Air Resources Board (CARB) deputy executive director Rajinder Sahota said it is something worth pursuing. "I totally think we should link our LCFS programs," she said at the Argus North American Biofuels, LCFS and Carbon Markets Summit in Monterey, California. Sahota said California and other LCFS states are working on a system that could allow the trading of compliance credits between companies covered by each program, but did not provide any other details. Her comments mark a change in tenor from CARB, which historically has said a linkage would be difficult given the differing starting points and carbon intensity targets of each program. Oregon's Clean Fuels Program (CFP) started five years after California's LCFS, while Washington launched its Clean Fuel Standard just last year. New Mexico is working on its own program that will begin by 2026. Oregon and Washington regulators at the conference said there have not been any formal discussions about a linkage, but did not completely dismiss the idea, highlighting the close informal coordination between the states. "All puzzles can be solved eventually," said Bill Peters, interim director of the CFP. By Michael Ball Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
California still eyeing 2025 start to LCFS changes
California still eyeing 2025 start to LCFS changes
Monterey, 17 September (Argus) — California regulators plan to propose changes to the state's Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) in coming days in hopes of ensuring updates to the program take effect in early 2025. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will soon issue a new rulemaking package for a 15-day public comment period, Rajinder Sahota, the agency's deputy executive officer, said today at the Argus North American Biofuels, LCFS & Carbon Markets Summit in Monterey, California. "We will be working very hard to ensure we have the targets in place" by 1Q, she said. On a practical level, CARB will have to adopt any amendments to the LCFS by early January or will be forced to start over. California law requires the agency to wrap up a rulemaking within 12 months of the first proposal. Sahota declined to say what changes, if any, to the most recent language would be part of the next 15-day package. The previous language included a 9pc "step down" in the carbon intensity requirement in 2025 and also contemplated a 20pc/yr cap on a company's credit generation from soybean- and canola-oil-based biodiesel or renewable diesel to begin in 2028. That new language "is coming very shortly," she said. The agency's board is scheduled to hold a hearing on the proposed changes on 8 November and could adopt the new language at that session. The LCFS requires yearly reductions in the carbon intensity of on-road transportation fuels. Fuels with scores above the targets produce deficits, which must be offset with credits generated from distribution to the market of approved, lower-carbon alternatives. California currently requires a 20pc drop in carbon intensity by 2030. The ongoing rulemaking could bump that carbon intensity reduction up to 30pc. Surging use of renewable diesel and outsized credit generation from renewable natural gas have overwhelmed deficit generation to create a glut of credits available for future compliance. LCFS credits do not expire, and 26.1mn metric tonnes of credits — 16pc more than all the new deficits generated in 2023 — were available for future compliance by the end of March. Credits fell in May to trade at $40/t, the lowest level for current quarter credits since June 2015, but have since rebounded as the CARB process has played out. But credit prices are still well below their historical highs. Argus on Monday assessed spot LCFS credits at $58/t. By Michael Ball Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
France lowers 2024-25 wheat production outlook
France lowers 2024-25 wheat production outlook
London, 17 September (Argus) — French wheat output in 2024-25, excluding durum, is now estimated at 25.78mn t by French agricultural ministry agency Agreste, down by 540,000t from its August projections . The agency attributed the cut to unfavourable weather conditions, with average yields estimated at 6.15t/hectare (ha). This compares with average yields pegged at 6.24t/ha in the agency's projections last month . Agreste now pegs France's durum wheat production at 1.18mn t, down from the 1.19mn t it forecast in August. Barley estimates also took a hit, with the agency now seeing France's total winter and spring barley production at 10.05mn t, down from 10.4mn t last month. Spring crops fared better since Agreste's August report, with corn output projections rising to 14.39mn t, up from the 14.01mn t the agency forecast last month. It expects a year-on-year increase in both planted areas and yields for French corn. And sunflower seed and rapeseed production forecasts were each raised by 10,000t, to 1.86mn t and 3.95mn t, respectively. But less favourable weather means both oilseed crops are scheduled to decline year on year. By Megan Evans Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Ethiopian EABC urea tender's lowest offer at $355/t cif
Ethiopian EABC urea tender's lowest offer at $355/t cif
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