The entire agro-industrial complex that concentrates more than 20 mills in the Grande Rosario is at risk, because the United States is producing more and more soybean oil for biodiesel and would lower the international value of oilseed meal; the main export product for Argentina.
The crisis of shortage of diesel is a direct consequence of last year’s decision to cut back with biodiesel, when the 26,093 law, which had started the biofuel saga in Argentina, expired. Since that time, the Government “bad wave” with biodiesel It was underlined with thick lines of evidence.
Energy authorities have indicated, in a free body, that the world was abandoning biofuels. a blatant lie, because what happens is exactly the opposite. In the world, more and more, biodiesel and ethanol are used as fuels transition to a definitively decarbonised world.
Electric mobility is politically correct, but for now the cure is worse than the disease. As long as the power generation matrix continues to be “dirty,” Teslas – however quiet and clean they may seem – will not help reduce emissions. The invasion of Ukraine only confirms this scenario, putting that on paper old Europe cannot do without gas to produce electricity and heating.
Meanwhile, they do not loosen the biodiesel. And much less, the United States. Here it is worth stopping and deepening.
Argentina supplied the North American market five years ago with 1.5 million cubic meters of soybean biodiesel. It was another stage in the powerful development of the crushing (grinding of soybeans) industry that had transformed the country into the main exporter of the two main derivatives of the bean: high-protein flour and oil. They had, in turn, become the main generators of foreign currency, occupying a strategic place in the macroeconomy.
a little walk, the European Union and the United States have adopted protectionist measures and blocked the importation of Argentine biodiesel. Our country has taken action before the WTO. He won a panel from Europe, which he had to buy back. The United States, pushed by the powerful soybean lobby in the Midwest, held out. And now we go further. This is serious, not just because it affects Argentine biodiesel. At stake now is the entire soy complex. Nothing less. We see.
Since the entrance to the Argentine biography has been closed, The United States began to produce more and more and on a larger scale. They exploited a technology developed by Norway’s Neste, called “HVO”, which requires large capacity plants the size of oil distilleries. Some will recall that 7 or 8 years ago a Neste official came to talk about his trial at the Aapresid congress. They had just inaugurated the first, in the port of Rotterdam (Netherlands), for the processing of imported oil.
Now I know they are building 20 floors in the large agricultural centers of the United States, but also near ports and coastal cities.
On the one hand, It’s good news that more soybean oil is being used to replace diesel. This is a new demand for a key product for Argentina. But it turns out that HVO incentives drive an expansion of shredding capacity.. As a result, strong growth in soybean meal production is expected. Since the US market will not expand at the same rate, there will be surpluses going to the international market.
This is a real threat to Argentina. At stake are shipments that today reach $ 15 billion and could be much higher if soybean production regains the momentum it lost fifteen years ago. The idle capacity of the sector is close to 50%.
This is the landscape. While the official management worked against a greater use of biodiesel in the domestic market, arguing that the world was going in another direction, in Europe and the United States have pressed the accelerator. Less dependence on oil and its derivatives, strategic and environmental objective.
Opposites also play. Over, trucks and combines are stopped. But the game is long and we are on time.
Hector Huergo
Source: Clarin
