World Grain - March 2012 - 28

COUNTRYFOCUS

is consumed for industrial use, the report said. “Most biodiesel is made with animal fat. Soybean oil is a less attractive alternative since it is much more expensive. The majority of the biodiesel that is made from soybean oil is used for onfarm usage.” Almost all of Paraguay´s soybean crop is biotech, USDA ofﬁcials noted in a separate report on the use of GM crops. “Although Round-Up Ready soybean is the only commercially approved biotech crop in Paraguay, the Government of Paraguay has recently sent positive signals about biotech crops by signing in October 2010 a resolution that allows ﬁeld trials for several corn events requested by different companies,” the USDA report said. “Paraguay’s royalty collection system is a well documented success story in the region and continues to operate as an agreement between Monsanto and the

farmers. The government is informed once the price is set.” ENCOURAGING BIOFUEL PRODUCTION The Paraguayan government has moved to encourage biofuels production and the ethanol industry is growing. “Local ethanol producers enjoy good returns and continue to invest in expanding output and becoming more efﬁcient,” an attache report on the sector said. “Contacts indicate that today’s bottleneck is the limited acreage with sugarcane. The largest ethanol producer currently utilizes corn as its main feedstock. A couple of new reﬁneries are expected to come online in 2012. Small volumes of ethanol could be exported starting in 2013.” Biodiesel production is limited. “The local biodiesel sector is going through a difﬁcult situation as its cost of production is higher than the cost of imported diesel,”

the report said. “Local biodiesel commercial producers want the government to pass on this higher cost on to the consumer, but the government so far has yet not made a decision. Production is negligible as most plants are not operating.” Despite this situation, Paraguay has great potential to increase its biodiesel production, as it is one of the world’s top soybean producers and exporters, the report said. “There are some other alternative feedstocks which could also be used. A few public and private entities have research and extension programs focusing on jatropha, castor oil, and Coco Mbokaya,” it said.
Chris Lyddon is World Grain’s European editor. He may be contacted at: chris.lyddon@ntlworld.com.
We want to hear from you — Send comments and inquiries to worldgrain@sosland.com. For reprints of WG articles, e-mail reprints@sosland.com.

Modular

For The

Grain Dryers

World

• A Complete Line of • A Complete Line of Modular and Tower Grain Dryers. Modular and Tower Grain Dryers. • Manufactured to International Standards • Manufactured to International Standards and Regulations. and Regulations.

For more information, see Page 90.

March 2012 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

http://www.mathewscompany.com http://ww.techmach.co.za http://www.World-Grain.com

World Grain - March 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of World Grain - March 2012