EU to Set Tariffs on Chinese Biodiesel in Anti-dumping Probe

by Philip Blenkinsop and Tassilo Hummel (Reuters) The European Union is set to impose provisional duties on Chinese biodiesel after finding it is being sold in EU markets at unfairly low prices, in the latest in a string of trade cases against China.

The European Commission, which oversees EU trade policy, has proposed setting provisional tariffs of between 12.8 and 36.4%, according to a document published on Friday. They are due to be imposed in mid-August.

The investigation is due to continue until February, when definitive duties for five years could be set.

The EU has already set provisional duties for electric vehicles made in China over what it sees as unfair subsidies in its most high-profile case.

For biodiesel, proposed duties are 12.8% for EcoCeres Group products, 36.4% for Jiaao Group, including Zhejiang Jiaao Enproenergy Co (603822.SS), opens new tab, and 25.4% for exports by Zhuoyue Group, including Longyan Zhuoyue New Energy Co (688196.SS)

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which lodged the complaint, said earlier this month that a flood of biodiesel from China was having a devastating effect on EU production.

Chevron Renewable Energy Group had furloughed German workers, Shell had paused construction of a Dutch plant, BP was pausing a project in Germany and Argent Energy had closed a biorefinery, EBB said.

"While Chinese imports are not the only reason for these decisions, the biodiesel dumping has contributed to the difficulties producers face," it said.

It says Chinese companies exported 1.8 million tonnes of biodiesel to the European Union in 2023, 90% of all Chinese biodiesel exports.

The European Waste-based and Advanced Biofuels Association said it welcomed the measures, adding it believed they would prompt a normalisation of market conditions from an "extremely adverse" situation since late 2022. READ MORE

Excerpt from European Biodiesel Board: However, EBB is gravely concerned at the EU’s unexpected exclusion of dumped Chinese Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from these provisional measures. In the Union interests, EBB expects the European Commission to address unfair trade from Chinese SAF producers, which would otherwise seriously damage the industry and lead to a reliance on China in the future. We will be addressing this issue with the regulators as a matter of priority.

The President of the EBB, Dickon Posnett, said: “Today we obtained measures that will start to rebalance the scales. Our next step is to work with the EU to close loopholes that will otherwise undermine this good work, and also to work with Member States and the Commission to ensure any fraudulent practices are dealt with in the future by a more robust sustainability certification system.

Our European businesses have been suffering for far too long under the pressure of unfairly priced Chinese imports and we are very happy to see the European Commission take action. As EBB we remain determined to defend the biodiesel industry’s interests and re-establish a fair trading environment.”

After its earlier success in identifying evidence of fraudulent practices and stopping the suspected re-exporting of Indonesian biodiesel through the Port of Hainan (China), EBB addressed the unfair practices from Chinese biodiesel producers through the initiation of an anti-dumping (AD) investigation. In this AD case, it now also achieved a successful result. The European Commission has always been reactive to tackle unfair trade in the biodiesel sector. Today, it has shown its continued commitment to restore a level playing field in the European Union and we will be pressing for it to be extended to the SAF sector. READ MORE

Excerpt from Mobility Plaza: The European Commission announced that it will impose anti-dumping tariffs of up to 36.4% on biodiesel imports from China.

Over the past two years, the European biofuels market has been flooded with imports from China, causing a collapse in the market price from around €2,250 per tonne to €1,100. A recent study by Transport & Environment showed that collection in China is as much as 30% cheaper than in Europe.

The dumping has already had devastating effects in the European market. In a few weeks, Chevron Renewable Energy Group has furloughed German workers, Shell paused the construction of a biodiesel plant in the Netherlands, BP is pausing a biofuel project in Germany and Argent Energy even closed a biorefinery, according to Biofuels International.

In response to the dumping allegations, the European Commission launched an investigation and has decided to impose provisional anti-dumping duties on Chinese biodiesel imports. These duties range from 12.8% to 36.4%, depending on the level of cooperation with the investigation. The duties are set to take effect on August 16, 2024, and will remain in place provisionally until a final decision is made in February 2025. READ MORE