Consumption of biobased diesel in Germany up 1st half of year over 2021

In the first half of 2022, the use of biodiesel and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) for blending amounted to around 1.23 million metric tons. This translates to a 6.3 percent increase over the same period in 2021.

According to investigations conducted by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (mbH), demand for diesel increased 1.6 percent to 15.15 million tons in this period. The average biodiesel/HVO incorporation rate between January and June 2022 was 7.5 percent.

The use of bioethanol amounted to 573,520 tons and thus exceeded the previous year’s volume by just about 12 percent. During the same period, consumption of petrol (E5/E10) increased a good 7 percent.

This June, consumption of biodiesel declined 5 percent on the previous month to 195,000 tons. This translates to a sharp decline of 8.7 percent in the year-on-year comparison.

The consumption of diesel reached 2.7 million tons in June 2022. This was up 14 percent on the previous month, but nevertheless fell 6 percent short of the previous year’s volume.

As a result, the incorporation rate dipped significantly to 6.7 percent, a level below the half-year average and clearly below the rate of 8 percent recorded in June 2021.

The use of bioethanol continued to decline in June 2022. At 90,910 tons, consumption was down 3.4 percent on the previous month. The use of bioethanol in blends decreased 5.6 percent but remained 2.8 percent above the level seen in June 2021. On the other hand, the use in ethyl tertiary-butyl ether (ETBE) rose 18.3 percent on the previous month. Nevertheless, it fell 31 percent short of the previous year’s volume.

The Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen e. V. (UFOP) has pegged total sales of biodiesel and HVO at approximately 2.5 million tons in 2022. This corresponds to approximately 55 percent of previous diesel-fuel imports from Russia of approximately 4.5 million tons.

The association expects demand for rapeseed oil-based biodiesel/HVO to increase in the fourth quarter, which would have a stabilizing effect on prices.

In the northern EU countries, rapeseed oil methyl ester is added to diesel in the winter half year to meet quality requirements for winter fuel.

Also, from the beginning of 2023, palm oil-based biofuels (biodiesel/HVO) will no longer be credited towards GHG-quota obligations in Germany. Other member states, such as France, Sweden, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands, have also excluded palm oil from being counted towards quota obligations.

This gap in demand will have to be closed with rapeseed oil, among other biofuel feedstocks.