The European Biodiesel Board, a major group of biodiesel producers, hailed on Tuesday a decision by the European Commission to slap definitive antidumping duties against what it called "unfair imports" of soybean- and palm oil-based biofuels from Argentina and Indonesia.
This marks the successful conclusion of a case lodged by EBB in 2012 and expands punitive renewable-energy duties imposed on US biodiesel in 2009 and on US ethanol earlier this year.
The lobbying group said the imposition of five-year duties ranging from Eur76/mt ($103/mt) to Eur245/mt, depending on the producer and the country of origin, "confirms the need for establishing a level playing field at [a] worldwide level for the trade of biofuels and related goods."
"For many years, EU biodiesel producers have committed significant efforts to build a modern and worldwide leading production capacity," the EBB said in a statement. "But these efforts have been ruined by unfair competition, preventing the EU from unleashing this major industrial potential."
The introduction of countervailing duties will allow the European biodiesel industry, the world's largest, "the possibility to exploit its full potential and further contribute to EU green and sustainable transport."
Biodiesel representatives in Argentina, the world's biggest producer and exporter, classified the move as "arbitrary" and a sign of "prejudice" against a more competitive industry.
Competition from imports has led to more than 50% of Europe's biodiesel production capacity sitting idle in recent years, according to market sources. In Spain, only around 10% of nameplate capacity is estimated to be currently operating.
European producers use primarily rapeseed oil and increasingly use cooking oil to manufacture biodiesel, two types of vegetable oils that are more costly compared with oils from soybeans and palm plants, the ones used in Argentina and Indonesia, respectively.
The European Commission had already imposed temporary duties on products from these two countries in May. Before that, the EU accounted for nearly 90% of Argentinian biodiesel exports, but this share has been declining since the start of the investigation at the end of last year.
The South American nation has been struggling to maintain historic biodiesel production levels as both export and local demand remains limited, sources said.
A parallel anti-subsidy case was dropped by the European Union after the EBB decided to withdraw its complaint on October 7, the bloc's executive arm said.
