US agribusiness giant Bunge has placed a bid to buy two soya processing plants in Brazil from local soya crusher Imcopa, reinforcing its position as the country’s biggest oilseeds processor, Reuters reported on 18 February.

Leading Asian agribusiness Wilmar saw core net profits jump 120% to US$438.4M for the fourth quarter ended 31 December, World Grain reported on 20 February.

The Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) has warned that the country could lose its corn and rapeseed exports to Europe due to the lack of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reporting by producers.

The Netherlands’ foreign affairs minister Stef Blok said his country supported sustainably produced palm oil and did not back the European Union’s blanket ban on the use of palm oil to produce biofuels, Indonesia’s Tempo newspaper reported on 25 February.

Several NGOs are objecting to France’s return of palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) to a list of biofuels benefitting from a tax exemption, Euractiv reported on 24 January.

Indonesia has filed a lawsuit at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the EU, claiming the bloc’s restrictions on palm oil-based biofuel are unfair, the country’s trade ministry said in a statement on 15 December.

Several European food companies have asked top palm oil producers Indonesia and Malaysia to cut the amount of mineral oil hydrocarbons in their palm oil, Reuters reported on 18 February.

A new sustainable aviation fuel developed by US research and engineering company Applied Research Associates (ARA) and Chevron Lummus Global (CLG) has been approved by international standards organisation ASTM International.

The Europoort facility recently starting producing the concentrate, which is available as a powder and is suitable for all types of food applications.

French biotech company Meiogenix has formed a partnership with German chemicals giant Bayer to advance the development of plant breeding and genome editing technologies.

Spanish farmers unions are proposing that low quality lampante olive oil be should be used as feedstock for biodiesel rather than paying for it to be stored until the market improves, the Olive Oil Times reported.

The Indonesian Biodiesel Producers Association (APROBI) will start the trial use of B40 fuel in March following the success of its B30 programme, the Jakarta Post reported on 11 February.

Malaysia’s Genting Plantations Bhd (GENP) is buying back a 25% stake in a planned biorefinery plant from US technology partner Elevance Renewable Sciences, the Star newspaper reported on 12 February.