February US biodiesel exports tick up slightly, still remain relatively low

U.S. exports of biodiesel remained low in February, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, topping out at just over 5.5 million gallons.

The low volume of exports in February, however, was still up from the very low January figure of less than 3.9 million gallons and more than the February 2022 volume of nearly 4.7 million gallons.

A vast majority of the biodiesel exported from the U.S. in February—nearly 4.9 million gallons—went north to Canada.

Remaining volumes went south to Peru (546,000 gallons) and east to Germany (126,000 gallons).

Meanwhile, U.S. biodiesel imports ticked up nearly a million gallons from the January figure of slightly more than 39 million gallons, topping out at just shy of 40 million gallons in February.

The February 2023 import volume is up 700 percent from the same month a year prior, when U.S. biodiesel imports totaled only around 5 million gallons.

Germany remained the top supplier of U.S. biodiesel imports in February, with shipments totaling more than 17.5 million gallons for the month.

Canada shipped nearly 11 million gallons of biodiesel to the U.S. during February.

More than 5.9 million gallons of biodiesel entered the U.S. from Italy in February, up from 2.9 million gallons the month before.

The U.S. also took in more than 4.7 million gallons of biodiesel from Spain during the month.

South Korean shipments of biodiesel to the U.S. decreased from more than 1.25 million gallons in January to 840,000 gallons in February.

U.S. imports of renewable diesel fell just short of 23 million gallons in February, dipping nearly 14 percent from more than 26.5 million gallons in January.

Nearly 21 million gallons of the February renewable diesel volume entered the U.S. from Singapore while nearly 2 million gallons originated in the Netherlands.

The total volume of U.S. biobased diesel imports in February, including both biodiesel and renewable diesel, topped out at 62.9 million gallons.