Finland's Neste raises Singapore HVO/SAF plant capacity

Spanish Market: Biofuels
17/05/23

Finnish biofuels producer Neste has officially completed the expansion of its Singapore hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) refinery in Tuas, Singapore.

The expansion raises the plant's total production capacity to 2.6mn t/yr from 1.3mn t/yr, of which 1mn t/yr of SAF could be produced.

Neste will also become a minority shareholder at Changi Airport's fuel storage and infrastructure joint venture Changi Airport Fuel Hydrant Installation to offer blended SAF directly to airlines at the airport.

The company's total SAF production capacity will be at 1.5mn t/yr by the end of 2023, when modifications to its Rotterdam refinery in the Netherlands are completed. Total SAF production will reach 2.2mn t/yr when expansions at the Rotterdam refinery are completed by the first half of 2026.

Neste is the only company in Singapore producing HVO and SAF, after Shell scrapped plans to set up a biofuel refinery in the city-state.

By Ryan Ang

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14/05/25

MUFG to invest $30mn in Japanese biofuels firm Euglena

Singapore, 14 May (Argus) — Japanese bank MUFG has agreed to purchase up to $30mn of shares in Japanese biofuels developer Euglena, which will allow Euglena to increase its share in a joint venture to build a biorefinery in Malaysia. Euglena will issue the shares in stages via their overseas special purpose company Euglena Sustainable Investment (Esil). Esil currently owns a 5pc equity of the joint venture and plans to increase its share up to the maximum of 15pc with the new funding. The other partners are Eni's biofuels unit Enilive and Malaysian state-owned refiner Petronas' Petronas Mobility Lestari. The biorefinery started construction in the fourth quarter of 2024, and is scheduled to start operations in the latter half of 2028. It will have the capacity to process about 650,000 t/yr of raw materials, such as used vegetable oils, animal fats, waste from the processing of vegetable oils and other biomass including microalgae oils, to produce up to 725 kilolitres/yr of SAF, hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) and bio-naphtha. The biofuel developer, whose initial business was the cultivation of the microalgae Euglena for food, had previously also announced that it will put more emphasis on UCO procurement and SAF supply to domestic consumers. Euglena aims to achieve a production capacity of 100,000 t/yr of microalgae-based oil by the 2030s, and is currently working with Petronas' subsidiary Petronas Research in a joint study to establish technology for large-scale microalgae production. But microalgae has so far faced challenges in commercialising as a biofuels feedstock, including high production costs, difficulty scaling up and low lipid yields. By Deborah Sun Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Ampol imports Australia's largest SAF cargo into Sydney

14/05/25

Ampol imports Australia's largest SAF cargo into Sydney

Sydney, 14 May (Argus) — Australian fuel retailer and refiner Ampol imported a cargo of nearly 2mn litres (700t) of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) into Sydney Airport on 7 May, marking the largest ever commercial SAF import into Australia. The fuel — sourced from Malaysia — was imported into Ampol's Kurnell facility near Sydney Airport, where the former's oil refinery has direct pipeline access into the airports refuelling the supply chain. There are no plans to import more SAF cargoes into Sydney Airport in the near term, a source close to the matter said. Ampol's managing director and chief executive officer, Matthew Halliday, said "this delivery marks Ampol's first major import of SAF into Australia and leverages our advanced supply chain infrastructure to deliver this product directly from a key domestic fuel terminal to the nation's busiest airport." Sydney Airport accounts for nearly 40pc of Australia's total jet fuel consumption, according to the airport's chief executive officer Scott Charlton. The announcement came a day after Ampol said it is shifting its focus to electric vehicle charging and renewable fuels , by selling its electricity retail businesses in Australia and New Zealand. Australian airline Qantas is the end user of the imported SAF cargo.The fuel, once blended at a ratio of approximately 18pc, could power the equivalent of 900 flights from Sydney to Auckland on Qantas 737 aircraft, Qantas said. This will cut resulting carbon emissions from those flights by a total estimated 3,400t, it added. Qantas is targeting 10pc of its fuel use to come from SAF by 2030 and approximately 60pc by 2050. Qantas' chief executive officer Vanessa Hudson said "the creation of a SAF industry is key to our efforts towards the decarbonisation of aviation, increasing Australia's fuel security and creating thousands of new jobs across our economy … we pick up 70pc of our fuel in Australia so we're looking forward to working closely with the government to chart the next course for SAF in Australia." This import of SAF follows the signing of an initial agreement between Qantas and Sydney Airport to work together to further facilitate the development of a domestic SAF industry in Australia. If established, domestic SAF production has the potential to contribute approximately A$13bn/yr ($8.4bn/yr) in gross domestic product by 2040, while supporting nearly 13,000 jobs in the feedstock supply chain and creating 5,000 new jobs to build and run the facilities, according to a Qantas and Airbus ICF report published in 2023. Consultations on a potential biofuels mandate in New South Wales (NSW) are expected to begin in the near future. NSW minister for climate change, energy and environment, Penny Sharpe, said "we want to see a strong domestic SAF industry here in NSW, which is a win-win for jobs, fuel security and the planet". By Tom Woodlock Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

US budget bill would prolong 45Z, boost crops

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.

Australia's Ampol to focus on EV charging, biofuels

13/05/25

Australia's Ampol to focus on EV charging, biofuels

Sydney, 13 May (Argus) — Australian fuel retailer and refiner Ampol is shifting its focus to electric vehicle (EV) charging and renewable fuels by selling its electricity retail businesses in Australia and New Zealand, it said today. But Ampol will continue to refine oil at its 109,000 b/d Lytton refinery and import oil products. Ampol plans to sell all its shares in Ampol Energy Retail, excluding its EV charging business, to Australian energy retailer AGL Sales, the firm announced in an Australian Securities Exchange statement on 13 May. Ampol is also selling its wholly owned New Zealand energy retailing businesses, Z Energy and Flick Energy, to New Zealand power company Meridian Energy. The firm is simplifying its approach to energy by focusing on the EV charging and renewable fuels sectors, it said. Further details on Ampol's divestment will be provided in its half-yearly results on 18 August 2025, the firm said. Ampol launched its decarbonisation and future energy strategy in May 2021. It has since made plans to complete the Lytton Ultra Low Sulphur Fuels project at the end of 2025 to produce gasoline specifications compliant with the new fuel standard by the Australian Federal Government. The firm has previously expressed the need for long-term policies to support the uptake of renewable fuels and remains committed to progressing its Brisbane renewable fuels study . Ampol plans to reach delivery of 500 EV charging bays in Australia by 2027. Ampol missed its target of 450 charging bays in Australia and New Zealand in 2024, delivering only 315, mainly because of complexities around grid connection and sluggish EV sales. By Grace Dudley and Tom Woodlock Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Brazil's inflation accelerates to 5.53pc in April

09/05/25

Brazil's inflation accelerates to 5.53pc in April

Sao Paulo, 9 May (Argus) — Brazil's annualized inflation rate rose to 5.53pc in April, accelerating for a third month despite six central bank rate hikes since September aimed at cooling the economy. The country's annualized inflation accelerated from 5.48pc in March and 5.06pc in February, according to government statistics agency IBGE. Food and beverages rose by an annual 7.81pc, up from 7.68pc in March. Ground coffee increased at an annual 80.2pc, accelerating from 77.78pc in the month prior. Still, soybean oil prices decelerated to 22.83pc in April from 24.36pc in March. Domestic power consumption costs rose to 0.71pc from 0.33pc a month earlier. Transportation costs decelerated to 5.49pc from 6.05pc in March. Gasoline prices slowed to a 8.86pc gain from 10.89pc a month earlier. The increase in ethanol and diesel prices decelerated as well to 13.9pc and 6.42pc in April from 20.08pc and 8.13pc in March, respectively. The hike in compressed natural gas prices (CNG) fell to 3.5pc from 3.92pc a month prior. Inflation posted the seventh consecutive monthly increase above the central bank's goal of 3pc, with tolerance of 1.5 percentage point above or below. Brazil's central bank increased its target interest rate for the sixth time in a row to 14.75pc on 7 May. The bank has been trying to counter soaring inflation as it has recently changed the way it tracks its goal. Monthly cooldown But Brazil's monthly inflation decelerated to 0.43pc in April from a 0.56pc gain in March. Food and beverages decelerated on a monthly basis to 0.82pc in April from a 1.17pc increase a month earlier, according to IBGE. Housing costs also decelerated to 0.24pc from 0.14pc in March. Transportation costs contracted by 0.38pc and posted the largest monthly contraction in April. Diesel prices posted the largest contraction at 1.27pc in April. Petrobras made three diesel price readjustments in April-May. By Maria Frazatto Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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