RME-FAME Spread at Eight-Month High as NWE Biodiesel Moves to Winter-Spec

Business News/Analysis, European Union (EU), Feedstocks, Field/Orchard/Plantation Crops/Residues, Marketing/Markets and Sales

September 4, 2015

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by Reinout Geyssens (Platts) … European biodiesel demand during the winter switches towards blends that solidify at lower temperatures, such as FAME-10, which represents blended biodiesel that has a cold-filter-plugin-point of minus 11 degrees Celsius.

The main blend component for FAME-10 is RME, which holds a CFPP value of around minus 13 C, and is exclusively made from rapeseed oil.

European blenders are expected to move away from the summer blend FAME 0, which solidify at 0 degrees Celsius, to FAME-10 from the second half of September, sources said, with Germany expected to switch first.

“Temperatures are falling, which made people look at FAME-10,” a source said. That provided an initial boost in RME demand, while demand for FAME 0 is falling slowly, sources said.

PME volumes, which are exclusively made from palm oil and hold a CFPP of around 13 C CFPP, have been drying up in ARA during recent weeks, sources said.

Palm oil-based biodiesel can be used in northern Europe for blended biodiesel during the summer months but demand for the product vanishes as the market moves to biodiesel with lower CFPP values.

In the Mediterranean, biodiesel demand switches to FAME+5 from FAME+10 during the winter, and PME biodiesel remains a key blend component. READ MORE

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