World Grain - July 2021 - 30

FEATURE: GRAIN SECTOR REBOUNDING FROM PANDEMIC
Global biofuel production in 2019 and breakdown for 2020
Billion Liters
180
170
160
150
140
130
120
110
100
2019
Biofuel market
growth
US ethanol
Brazilian
ethanol
when you have to also take into account that feed is
also very expensive at the moment. "
Zoltán Pulay, vice president of the European Feed
Manufacturers' Federation (FEFAC), said that the
first wave of the pandemic " was really scary. "
" We really just faced a situation where we really
didn't know what to do, " he said. " That happened
in such a short period of time, but I think both our
federation and our European organizations have
been very successful in negotiating originally with
the governments, also sending out messages very
quickly to the (European) Commission. "
An early success was in getting the European
Commission and the EU's Member States to
set up what were called " green lanes " to
enable the agrifood sector's vehicles to
move between European countries.
" That was extremely important, "
he said. " Feed ingredients and also
feeds were not able to move over the
borders. That would have been a very
serious problem in the food supply. "
Europe, in his view, handled the
Pulay
first wave well, but then there was a
second wave that brought with it shipping
delays, notably from Asia.
" Goods could not move from central Asia
to the ports, and then all of a sudden there was
a big panic purchase, especially from the pre-mix
producers who are buying all their ingredients, or
the majority of their ingredients, from Asia. That
led to a very significant price increase. Then logistics
calmed down a bit and the prices came down
again, and all of a sudden we had the third wave. We
30
EU biodiesel
Other biofuel
market contraction
2020
Last updated Nov. 16, 2020
are still living in very severe conditions of shipping
costs and the lack of containers. "
FOB Asian prices for ingredients are coming
down, but freight costs mean European buyers are
paying more.
" Everybody had to realize that a safety stock is a
must, " he said. " That is a burden for the European
feed industry even today. "
Countries seek self-sufficiency
Justin Sherrard noted a broader political dynamic
stemming from COVID-19 is some countries accelerating
existing policies around self-sufficiency.
" We see that in parts of Asia, and we see that in
parts of the Middle East as well where there has
long been interest in improving self-sufficiency, "
Sherrard said. " The most obvious example in recent
times has been a move by Saudi Arabia to block
imports of chicken from Brazil, which I think is
all about improving self-sufficiency within Saudi
Arabia. We see a little bit of this in China as well.
The current five-year plan talks about a move toward
self-sufficiency. "
In a panel debate on vegetable oil markets,
Gustavo Idigoras, president of the Argentine Grains
Exporters and Oilseed Industry Trade Association
(CIARA-CEC), said: " We are watching an incredible
increase in prices for vegetable oils in the last
year, particularly in these last months. "
He highlighted the growth of biodiesel in the
United States, " with the adoption of the renewable
energy policy - particularly the introduction
of a new technology that is the HVO (Hydrotreated
Vegetable Oil) and particularly the use of the vegJuly
2021 / World Grain / World-Grain.com
Source: International Energy Agency
http://www.World-Grain.com
World Grain - July 2021

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