The government of New Zealand has announced plans to introduce a sustainable biofuels mandate based on greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions, Ethanol Producer magazine wrote.

Japanese trading and investment conglomerate Marubeni Corporation has agreed to invest and acquire shares in Swiss-based digital blockchain start-up Covantis.

A new study by Juan Vilar Strategic Consultants has researched the potential of using olive pits in biofuels, Olive Oil Times wrote on 9 December.

A Malaysian company has developed an automated tree cutter that could help ease the palm oil sector’s chronic labour shortage, Bloomberg reported on 14 December.

Global agribusiness giant Cargill has agreed to acquire the majority of speciality chemical company Croda’s performance technologies and industrial chemicals business for US$1.03bn.

Leading 3D construction printer firm Black Buffalo 3D has teamed up with affordable housing provider Alquist and US industrial hemp company Revive Hemp Industries to create a structural hemp-based 3D construction ink, Black Buffalo 3D announced on 9 November.

Independent bulk liquid storage provider Stanlow Terminals is set to develop the UK’s largest biofuels storage hub over the next three years, the company announced on 13 December.

China's state-owned Shanxi Construction Investment Group is planning to invest in a hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) plant in Malaysia's southern state of Johor, according to a Reuters report on 13 December.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is assessing if dicamba herbicide can be sprayed on soyabean and cotton plants genetically engineered to resist the chemical, without posing “unreasonable risks” to other crops, according to an Insurance Journal report.

US refiner Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) and global agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) have closed a joint venture for the production of soyabean oil to supply growing demand for renewable diesel, ADM announced on 14 December.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has directed local stock exchanges to suspend trading of seven agricultural commodities for one year in a bid to control rising food prices, World Grain reported on 21 December.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced a US$800M support package for the biofuels sector – comprising US$700M in COVID-19 relief for producers and US$100M in infrastructure funding to support the use of higher blends of ethanol and biodiesel, Biodiesel magazine reported on 7 December.

The US Supreme Court has asked president Joe Biden’s administration for its views on whether to hear a bid by German pharmaceutical and chemical giant Bayer to dismiss claims by customers who claim its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, as the company potentially faces billions of dollars in damages, Insurance Journal wrote on 13 December.