August 6, 2012

Brazil's soy crop failure not to affect biodiesel manufacture

The soy crop failure in Brazil and the crop's increased prices will not affect the biodiesel production of the country, according to experts from Brazil's biodiesel sector.

Although soy accounts for 80% of the raw materials used for biodiesel production in Brazil, the biodiesel segment will not suffer as it operates at higher installed capacity than needed, the sector representatives noted.

The national market will not suffer supply shortages, Erasmo Battistella, president of the Brazilian Association of Biodiesel Producers (Aprobio) and chief executive of biodiesel producer BSBios, noted.

In turn, Juan Diego Ferres, chairman of the executive board of the Brazilian union of biofuels and biokerosene (Ubrabio) reportedly voiced optimism with the soy harvest in the 2012/2013 crop year. According to Ferres, with the additional 18 million tonnes expected to be harvested next year, Brazil will be able to start producing the B10 biodiesel, which is a 10% biodiesel blend to conventional diesel.

Currently, the mandatory biodiesel blend to diesel in the country is 5%.