Commodity Shuttle: Biodiesel industry wants predictability in mixing rate resumption

The biodiesel industry was excited by the government’s signal to return to 14% biodiesel blending, as the original schedule for this year should have been. Alleging pressure from biodiesel on the price of diesel, the government reduced the blend to 10%.

The blending schedule, set in 2018, indicated a continued rise in the rate, reaching 15% next year.

The government’s intention to return to the blending program is good news, but it should be accompanied by a staggering schedule for the passage from the current 10% to 15% by 2023.

This schedule should be forwarded to the CNPE (National Energy Policy Council) so that the passage through the different percentage rates of mixing can be defined as of June.

The assessment is by Donizete Tokarski, superintendent director of Ubrabio (Brazilian Union of Biodiesel and Bioquerosene). This shift cannot be abrupt, he says.

Predictability is necessary for companies to plan for the purchase of raw material (basically soy) and to reinforce their stocks. Ubrabio sent a request to the Ministry of Mines and Energy about the need for this planning.

Tokarski says that this resumption of the mixture will not put pressure on the market. Despite the drop in soy production, the country still produced 125 million tons. Moving from 10% to 15% will only require 3 million tons more soy.

This return on the mixing schedule is important for the biodiesel industry, which is 50% idle in its production capacity. There are 55 industries spread across 14 states. Ten others are under construction, he says.

The advance in the mixing rate will be important not only for the industry, which has been investing for several years, but it will reduce costs in the production of proteins, meat will become cheaper, employment will increase in several sectors and even business with family farming will improve. , according to the director of Ubrabio.

As for the current values ​​of raw materials, Tokarski says that price is a matter of the market. All social, environmental and economic externalities of this process must be considered.

The government stipulated that the cost to society of increasing the biodiesel blend — due to raw material prices — would be BRL 9 billion, a calculation made in November, before the steepest increases in diesel.

The director of Ubrabio says, however, that a study of the sector shows that, for each percentage point of blending biodiesel with diesel, the social value generated for society is R$ 30 billion.

As a signatory to COP26, Brazil must stop indirectly subsidizing fossil fuel and prioritize renewable fuel. Biodiesel removes two polluting products from the market: used cooking oil and animal fat, according to Tokarski.

The biodiesel industry added BRL 30.8 billion to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) last year, according to a study by Cepea (Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics) and Abiove (Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries).

BRF no air After the good results of the pilot project in Toledo (PR), BRF began a daily operation with a drone system for the distribution of swine genetic material in the municipality of Faxinal dos Guedes, in western Santa Catarina.

Safety sanitary Initially, the delivery system will serve three of the six farms located on the company’s 1,300-hectare farm. The adoption of the drone results in health security and biosecurity, in addition to reducing delivery time and generating environmental gains, due to the reduction of carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

Semen The system, which should reach the six farms by June, transports semen collected at the CDG (Genetic Diffusion Center) on the property. The aircraft carries 40 doses and has the potential to carry 2.5 kilos. On average, there are 23 trips a day.

shortening distances With a pre-defined route, the aircraft takes off automatically and uses navigation software, cameras and sensors. In partnership with Speedbird Aero, BRF managed to shorten distances, since previous deliveries, via truck, took up to two hours.

Syngenta First quarter sales reached US$ 8.9 billion, 26% above the financial volume from January to March 2021. Ebitda (earnings before interest and taxes) was US$ 1.9 billion, up 25% in the period.

America Latin Growth occurred in all segments. In crop protection, the increase was 25%; in the case of seeds, 15%. Latin American countries were important for this growth. Seed sales doubled in the region, and crop protection product sales rose 70%.