On Tuesday 9 July, the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) called on the EU to take urgent anti-dumping measures to deal with Chinese biodiesel imports, against a background where major producers have already scaled back their operations due to market pressures.
“In mere weeks, Chevron Renewable Energy Group has furloughed German workers, Shell paused the construction of a biodiesel plant in the Netherlands, BP is pausing a biofuel project in Germany and Argent Energy even closed a biorefinery”, worries the EBB.
The organisation also notes that the EU remains the largest importer of biofuels in the world, while its domestic producers are forced to export in the face of a Chinese industry that has expanded massively in recent years.
“The Fit for 55 Package will require a huge uptake for all renewable fuels and precisely at the moment they are needed, business cases for investment have collapsed. The Commission has the tools to restore the level playing field”, said Xavier Noyon, Secretary General of the EBB. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)