Ron Kotrba
US imports record volume of biodiesel from Spain in October
Updated: Jan 9
The U.S. imported more biodiesel from Spain in October 2023 than ever before, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
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In October, the U.S. received more than 13.3 million gallons from Spain.
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This marks two months in a row in which Spain shipped record volumes of biodiesel to the U.S.
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In September, 12.8 million gallons of biodiesel from Spain entered U.S. ports, which was the highest monthly volume on record at the time.
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Total U.S. biodiesel imports for the month of October came to 42.7 million gallons, down from a six-year monthly high in September of nearly 54 million gallons.
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Following the No. 1 spot fulfilled by Spain in October was Canada, which shipped nearly 12 million gallons of biodiesel to the U.S. during the month.
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Nearly 6 million gallons came from Germany.
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Belgium sent more than 4.2 million gallons of biodiesel to the U.S. in October, followed by slightly less from Italy (4.16 million gallons) and just over 3 million gallons from South Korea.
U.S. imports of renewable diesel continued a downward trend in October, hitting more than 14.7 million gallons for the month, down from over 17 million gallons in September and plummeting nearly 70 percent from the all-time monthly high of almost 48.3 million gallons in May 2023.
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More than 12.2 million gallons of renewable diesel entered the U.S. in October from Singapore.
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Just over 2.5 million gallons came from the Netherlands.
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U.S. biodiesel exports approached 19 million gallons in October, up from 17.2 million gallons in September but down from April’s all-time monthly peak of nearly 44 million gallons on record*.
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A vast majority—nearly 17.5 million gallons—was shipped to Canada.
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The U.S. sent over 1.4 million gallons of biodiesel to Peru in October.
*Editor’s Note: EIA’s monthly data goes back to January 2011. In 2008, during the height of splash and dash and before Europe imposed duties on U.S. biodiesel, the U.S. exported a record 700 million gallons of biodiesel. Certainly some if not all the months in 2008 featured higher U.S. export volumes than April or June 2023.