Germany exported a record level of 2.9M tonnes of biodiesel in 2023 from a total output of 3.9M tonnes, according to a report by Germany’s Union for the Promotion of Oil and Plant Proteins (UFOP).
The increase was driven by Germany’s greenhouse gas (GHG) quota policy and competition for GHG efficiency, the 25 April report said.
However, the association said a sizeable amount of biodiesel that could have been used for crediting towards the national GHG obligation and for meeting the GHG target for the transport sector had been exported.
“Such potential should be exploited in the future, especially because investments in biodiesel or HVO production facilities are currently not to be expected in Germany,” the association said.
According to the report, the promotion of synthetic renewable fuels and hydrogen is advisable in the long term but does not help to meet 2030 and 2040 targets, especially as the shipping and aviation sectors also needed to be served.
At 1.6M tonnes, biodiesel imports – not including hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) which is produced exclusively outside Germany – were 6.2% below the previous year’s volume.
In 2022, German HVO imports totalled approximately 0.48M tonnes.
With Rotterdam being the most important hub for world trade in biofuels, the Netherlands remained by far Germany’s most important biodiesel trading partner, the report said.
In 2023, exports to the Netherlands increased 3.6% year-on-year to approximately 1.2M tonnes.
Trade to the USA and Poland also increased, with exports to the former up 55% to 444,100 tonnes, making the USA the second most important destination.
Meanwhile, deliveries to Belgium dropped around 40% to 381,800 tonnes.
According to research by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft, the largest volumes of biodiesel imports were from the Netherlands, Belgium, Malaysia and Austria.
At 295,000 tonnes, imports from Belgium were down just less than 23% compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, imports from Malaysia were up around 6.6%.
Although the import statistics did not include China, around 100,000 tonnes were believed to have been shipped from China via Rotterdam, the report said.
At approximately 1.57M tonnes, biodiesel (including HVO) from waste oils and fats accounted for approximately 60% of total consumption of around 2.54M tonnes in 2022.
According to UFOP estimates, total consumption in 2023 amounted to 2.62M tonnes, with a similar share of waste-based biofuels (biodiesel and HVO).
