Argentina braces for another ports strike

Market: Agriculture, Fertilizers
24/05/21

Argentina's ports are bracing for another labor strike after recovering from back-to-back strikes last week that paralyzed shipping throughout most of the country.

Seven grains tankers that were ready to depart from Rosario port when a strike by port workers began on 18 May were able to set sail. The last of the seven vessels left Rosario today, Capym ports chamber manager Guillermo Wade said.

Rosario is the hub for the country's grain exports on the Parana river.

A group of unions that represent port workers said they will hold a two-day strike starting on 26 May to reiterate a demand for priority access to Covid-19 vaccines.

Government authorities have rejected the unions' demands, asserting that a national vaccination plan is already underway.

Argentina has applied 11.1mn vaccine doses, but only just over 5pc of its population of some 45mn has been fully vaccinated.

By Daniel Politi

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14/05/25

Aramco eyes stake in Australia's Louisiana LNG project

Sydney, 14 May (Argus) — Australian independent Woodside and Saudi state-owned oil firm Aramco have entered into an agreement for Aramco to possibly buy a stake in Woodside's 16.5mn t/yr Louisiana LNG project and to explore other opportunities, including lower-carbon ammonia. As part of the non-binding agreement, Aramco could buy an equity interest in and LNG offtake from its Louisiana LNG project, Woodside said without disclosing further details. This comes after Woodside reached a final investment decision on the project in late April. Woodside and Aramco signed the agreement in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia at the Saudi-US investment forum , which was attended by Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and US president Donald Trump. The collaboration shows Woodside's Louisiana project is generating interest among "high-quality potential investors," Woodside's CEO Meg O'Neill said, after selling 40pc of the project's infrastructure to US-based investment firm Stonepeak in early April. The agreement will also help the firm build a more diverse portfolio, as it branches into chemical production, O'Neill said. The firm's wholly-owned Beaumont New Ammonia project in Texas is expected to produce first ammonia in the second half of this year, and lower-carbon ammonia by the second half of next year. By Grace Dudley Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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US budget bill would prolong 45Z, boost crops

13/05/25

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13/05/25

US budget bill would prolong 45Z, boost crops

New York, 13 May (Argus) — A proposal from House Republican tax-writers would extend for four additional years a new tax credit for low-carbon fuels and adjust the incentive to be more lenient to crops used for biofuels. Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee on Monday introduced their draft portion of a far-reaching budget bill, which included various changes to Inflation Reduction Act clean energy subsidies. But the "45Z" Clean Fuel Production Credit, which requires fuels to meet an initial carbon intensity threshold and then ups the subsidy as emissions fall, would be the only incentive from the 2022 climate law to last even longer than Democrats planned under the current draft. The proposal represents an early signal of Republicans' plans for major legislation through the Senate's reconciliation process, which allows budget-related bills to pass with a simple majority vote. The full Ways and Means Committee will consider amendments at a markup this afternoon, and House leaders want the full chamber to vote on the larger budget bill before the US Memorial Day holiday on 26 May. Afterwards, the proposal would head to the Republican-controlled Senate, where lawmakers could float further changes. But the early draft, in a chamber with multiple deficit hawks and climate change skeptics that have pushed for a full repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act, is remarkable for not just keeping but expanding 45Z. The basics of the incentive — offering benefits to producers instead of blenders, throttling benefits based on carbon intensity, and offering more credit to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) — would remain intact. Various changes would help fuels derived from US crops. The most notable would prevent regulators measuring carbon intensity from considering "indirect land use change" emissions that attempt to quantify the risks of using agricultural land for fuel instead of food. Under current emissions modeling, the typical dry mill corn ethanol plant does not meet the 45Z credit's initial carbon intensity requirement — but substantially more gallons produced today would have a chance at qualifying without any new investments in carbon capture if this bill were to pass. The indirect land use change would also create the possibility for canola-based fuels, which are just slightly too carbon-intensive to qualify for 45Z today, to start claiming some subsidy. Fuels from soybean oil currently qualify but would similarly benefit from larger potential credits. Still, credit values would depend on final regulations and updated carbon accounting from President Donald Trump's administration. Since the House proposal does not address the current law's blunt system for rounding emissions values up and down, relatively higher-carbon corn and canola fuels still face the risk of falling just below 45Z's required carbon intensity threshold but then being rounded up to a level where they receive zero subsidy. The House bill would also restrict eligibility to fuels derived from feedstocks sourced in the US, Canada, and Mexico — an attempt at a middle ground between refiners that have increasingly looked abroad for biofuel inputs and domestic farm groups that have lobbied for 45Z to prioritize US crops. That language would make more durable current restrictions on foreign used cooking oil and significantly reduce the incentive to import tallow from South America and Australia, a loss for major renewable diesel producers Diamond Green Diesel, Phillips 66, and Marathon Petroleum. The provision would also hurt US biofuel producer LanzaJet, which has imported lower-carbon Brazilian sugarcane ethanol as a SAF feedstock to the chagrin of domestic corn ethanol producers. The bill would also require regulators to set more granular carbon intensity calculations for different types of animal manure biogas projects, all of which are treated the same under current rules. Other lifecycle emissions models treat some dairy projects at deeply negative carbon intensities. Those changes to carbon intensity calculations and feedstock eligibility would kick in starting next year, meaning current rules would remain intact for now. The proposal would however phase out the ability of clean energy companies without enough tax liability to claim the full value of Inflation Reduction Act subsidies to sell those tax credits to other businesses. That pathway, known as transferability, would end for clean fuel producers after 2027, hurting small biodiesel producers that operate under thin margins in the best of times as well as SAF startups that were planning to start producing fuel later this decade. Markets unresponsive, but prepare for new possibilities There was little immediate reaction across biofuel, feedstock, and renewable identification number (RIN) credit markets, since the bill could be modified and most of the changes would only take force in the future. But markets may shift down the road. Limiting eligibility to feedstocks originating in North America for instance could continue recent strength in US soybean oil futures markets. July CBOT Soybean oil futures closed 3pc higher on Monday at 49.92¢/lb on the news and have traded even higher today. The spread between soybean oil and heating oil futures is then highly influential for the cost of D4 biomass-based diesel RIN credits, which are crucial for biofuel margins and have recently surged in value to their highest prices in over a year. The more lenient carbon accounting will also help farmers eyeing a long-term future in renewable fuel markets and will support margins for ethanol and biodiesel producers reliant on crops. Corn and soy groups have pushed the government for less punitive emissions tracking, worried that crop demand could wane if refiners could only turn a profit by using lower-carbon waste feedstocks instead. The House bill, if passed, would still run up against contradictory incentives from other governments, including SAF mandates in Europe that restrict fuels from crops and California's efforts to soon limit state low-carbon fuel standard credits for fuels derived from vegetable oils. By Cole Martin and Matthew Cope Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Indian state props up green H2 with 130,000 t/yr tender

13/05/25

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13/05/25

Indian state props up green H2 with 130,000 t/yr tender

Mumbai, 13 May (Argus) — India's western state of Maharashtra is seeking companies to set up subsidised renewable hydrogen production facilities with a total capacity of up to 130,000 t/yr through a tender, as it pursues ambitious output plans. The bulk of the capacity, namely 50,000-100,000 t/yr, would be established through a single "anchor" project. The remaining 30,000 t/yr would come from much smaller projects and would be split between 2-15 different facilities of 2,000-15,000 t/yr. The projects would have to be completed within 36 months of receiving the tender award and would have to maintain production for 25 years. Projects would be able to avail a range of incentives outlined in Maharashtra's green hydrogen policy from 2023 . The large plant could receive up to 30pc capital cost subsidies, while the smaller facilities could get support for up to 15pc. But subsidies would depend on projects meeting certain criteria which will also be factored into the initial selection process. This includes criteria for the use of local components in the plant's construction which will have to reach at least 55pc. Projects would also score higher if they use renewable power that is generated in Maharashtra rather than in another state. Crucially, the large plant would have to sell at least 50pc of its output domestically, which would leave a maximum of 50,000 t/yr for exports. The smaller plants would have to sell all of their output domestically. Electrolyser performance is also taken into account, with a maximum specific energy consumption of 56 kWh/kg and no more than 1pc annual degradation. The bid submission deadline is 7 July, and a pre-bid meeting is scheduled for 14 May. Maharashtra has set a target to produce 500,000 t/yr of renewable hydrogen by the end of March 2030, with an allocated budget of 85.6bn rupees ($1bn)—nearly half of India's total allocation for its green hydrogen mission. Under its policy, a maximum of three anchor projects with a hydrogen production capacity of at least 50,000 t/yr will receive capital subsidies — suggesting that more similar tenders could follow at a later stage. Last month, state-owned Mahatma Phule Renewable Energy and Infrastructure Technology (Mahapreit) already invited proposals to set up a renewable ammonia plant with a capacity of 60,000-100,000 t/yr. Mahapreit is 51pc owned by Maharashtra's state government, while India's central government holds 49pc. By Akansha Victor Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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US crops outlook benefits from ideal weather

12/05/25

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12/05/25

US crops outlook benefits from ideal weather

St Louis, 12 May (Argus) — US crop conditions and planting progress improved again over the previous week, as the seven days ending Sunday brought an ideal mix of rain and dry days. The pace of planting for most US crops was ahead of the five-year average the week ending 11 May, with corn, soybean and spring wheat planting eachadvancing 18 percentage point or more from the previous week, according to US Department of Agriculture (USDA) data. The week brought multiple dry days suitable for field work for most of the US corn belt, with limited rain reported west of the Mississippi river. US corn planting pulled 6 percentage points ahead of the five-year average to 62pc completion during the week while soybean planning reached 48pc complete, 11 percentage points ahead of the five-year average. Planting of both crops was propelled as Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nebraska each planted more than 15pc of their anticipated crop acres during the week. US spring wheat planting reached 66pc complete as of 11 May, 17 percentage points ahead of the five-year average, according to USDA data. Planting reached 98pc complete in South Dakota, about three weeks ahead of normal, where failed winter wheat crops enabled producers to plant into empty fields earlier than normal. In Minnesota and North Dakota planting advanced 37 percentage points and 23 percentage points, respectively, from the prior week to put the planting pace in both states more than 20 percentage points ahead of the five-year average. The week ahead is likely to bring another period of rapid planting for the southern corn belt, as Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri are currently projected to receive minimal precipitation prior to 15 May, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) projections. An inch or more of rain is projected for Montana through Minnesota, starting 14 May and persisting though 20 May. Pockets of precipitation are expected for east of the Mississippi during the week ahead, but many areas are projected to receive a tenth of an inch of rain or less, allowing for opportunities to make additional planting progress. US winter wheat posts another week of improvement US winter wheat crop conditions reached their highest level for the week since 2019 as of 11 May, as many key states continued to post improvements. US winter wheat rated in good to excellent condition reached 54pc of the crop as of 11 May, up 13 percentage points from the five-year average. The four largest US winter wheat states posted improvements during the week as parts of Kansas, Texas, Colorado, and Montana all received an inch or more of precipitation over the week ending 11 May, according to NOAA data. In Kansas, 48pc of the crop was rated in good-to-excellent condition as of 11 May, 16 percentage points ahead of the five-year average. Texas's winter wheat crop was rated 42pc in good-to-excellent condition, 15 percentage points ahead of the five-year average. Colorado's winter wheat crop was rated 56pc in good-to-excellent condition, 24 percentage points ahead of the five-year average. Montana's winter wheat crop was rated 83pc in good-to-excellent condition, 38 percentage points ahead of the five-year average. The week ahead is expected to be drier for the southern portion of the high plains, with only limited rain expected for eastern Kansas by 18 May. Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota are expected to receive more rain during the week ahead, with large portions of those states projected to receive an inch or more, according to NOAA. With the rain received so far, a dry week ahead is not likely to set back the progress made by the US winter wheat crop, and the week ahead will likely see continued improvements to the final quality and size of the crop. By Ryan Koory Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Algeria’s OAIC seeks wheat in tender

12/05/25

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12/05/25

Algeria’s OAIC seeks wheat in tender

Kyiv, 12 May (Argus) — Algeria's state grains buyer OAIC issued a tender for 11.5pc protein content milling wheat for July shipment, closing on 14 May. OAIC is seeking a nominal 50,000t of wheat on a cfr basis for shipment on 1-15 July or 16-31 July. For South American, Australian or Indian wheat, OAIC asked for shipment periods to be brought forward by one month. Algeria's wheat imports in 2025-26 are forecast at 9.2mn t by the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) attache in Algiers. This would be lower than the 9.4mn t of imports forecast for 2024-25 by the USDA. Algeria last booked milling wheat in a tender nearly a month ago at $267.50/t cfr for shipment in June. By Kristin Yavorska Grains, oilseeds and veg oils tenders Buyer Issued Closes Status Cargo Shipment/delivery Price Seller Notes Algeria's OAIC 12-May 14-May Open 50,000t milling wheat Jul-25 cfr Tunisia's ODC 29-Apr 30-Apr Closed 25,000t barley Jun-25 $253.43/t Viterra cfr Tunisia Jordan's MIT 23-Apr 29-Apr Closed 60,000t milling wheat 2h Sep 2025 $259.99/t Al Dahra cfr Aqaba Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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