• Bloomberg reported that the EU has extended anti-dumping and countervailing duties on US biodiesel. An official said that the duties will be extended for another five years. The antidumping duties are fixed amounts ranging between zero and 198 Euros per tonne on imports from sampled exporting producers, 115.60 Euros per tonne on imports from the non-sampled cooperating countries and 172.20 Euros per tonne on imports from all other companies. Countervailing duties are fixed amounts ranging from 211.20 to 237.00 Euros per tonne on imports from the exporting countries.

• According to Bloomberg also, the USDA has raised the outlook for Indonesia’s CPO export sales on higher demand from China, Malaysia, India and the EU. Palm oil exports are now seen to be 30.5mil tonnes in 2021E/2022F vs. the previous outlook of 29.5mil tonnes.

• Reuters quoted a survey by agribusiness consultancy, Datagro as saying that Brazilian farmers are poised to expand their soybean areas for the 15th consecutive year buoyed by strong demand. The areas planted with soybean are expected to increase by 4% to 40.57mil hectares in 2021E/2022F. Datagro forecasts that Brazil will produce an estimated 114.06mil tonnes of soybeans in the next season. This would be 5% higher than the 136.96mil tonnes of output in 2021E.

• Jakarta Post reported that environmentalists and farmers are urging President Jokowi Widodo to extend the moratorium on new oil palm plantation permits as part of the country’s efforts to manage the commodity sustainably. The moratorium was established through a Presidential Instruction issued in September 2018. Under the decree, government agencies would stop granting new licences for oil palm concessions and review existing ones. The moratorium is expected to expire in September 2021.

• Argus Media reported that China’s biodiesel exports hit a monthly high of 135,000 tonnes in June 2021 with surging demand for waste-based fuel in Europe. China’s biodiesel sales were up 39% YoY to 580,000 tonnes in 1H2021. Netherlands, Spain and Belgium bought the most, receiving 383,000 tonnes, 138,000 tonnes and 32,000 tonnes of biodiesel respectively. Tighter supplies, higher vegetable oil costs and heavy incentives sent prices of used cooking oil methyl ester to a high of US$1,822/tonne FOB Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp in June 2021.

• The Telegraph reported that meat suppliers to British supermarkets and the NHS have been linked with a farmer accused of illegal deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. Multiple fires were recorded on a land belonging to a Brazilian farmer that had been designated for protection after earlier deforestation. Cattle belonging to the farmer was sent to abattoirs run by meat companies that supply Sainsbury’s, Lidl, Asda and British wholesalers that sell to the NHS. The UK government is introducing legislation that would require businesses to ensure that their supply chains are free from illegal deforestation.

Source: AmInvest Research - 9 Aug 2021