Crude tall oil (CTO) refiner Fintoil is going ahead with plans to invest US$121.6M (€100M) in a new refinery in the Finnish port of HaminaKotka, Bioenergy International reported on 9 February.

The Argentine government will not impose a tax increase on agricultural exports or limit how much grain can be shipped abroad to halt rising food prices, Reuters reported on 10 February.

Higher shipping costs were likely for grain traders in 2021, according to a World Grain report on 12 February.

Rates of oil palm deforestation in Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea in 2020 were at their lowest level for three years, according to a new report by Chain Reaction Research (CRR) published on 9 February.

Leading global chocolate companies Mars, Nestlé and Hershey are among the defendants facing a child slavery lawsuit in the USA, The Guardian reported on 12 February.

Global speciality chemical and ingredient company Univar Solutions has entered an agreement to become the main distributor of Sasol’s alcohol and surfactant products in the USA and Canada.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has extended the deadline for a 3% cap on the quantity of trans fatty acids (TFA) in oils and fat from January 2021 to April this year, The Economic Times reported on 13 January.

Brazilian energy company Raízen has agreed to buy Louis Dreyfus Holding subsidiary Biosev, a sugar and ethanol unit.

Science and technology company Merck is expanding its production of lipids to be used by German biotechnology firm BioNTech in the manufacture of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the company announced on 5 February.

Global agribusiness giant Bunge has reported net income of US$551M in the final quarter of 2020 – compared with a loss in the same period of 2019 – driven by strong vegetable oil demand and higher oilseed crush margins, the company announced on 10 February.

Speciality chemicals company Mainstream Pine Products is planning to build a US$90M crude tall oil (CTO) biorefinery at the Charleston International Manufacturing Center (CIMC) in Berkeley county, USA, the company announced on 26 January.

UK airline British Airways is planning to operate transatlantic flights partially powered by sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as early as next year, the company announced on 9 February.

US refiner Marathon Petroleum is planning to balance its traditional refinery operations with new renewable projects, S&P Global Platts reported the company’s CEO Mike Hennigan as saying on 2 February.