The damage caused by a fire at UPM’s 130,000 ton/year Lappeenranta Biorefinery on 10 May is nearly repaired, according to the company. The fire caused substantial damage and repair works have proceeded safely and well during the summer.

Prospects of tight rapeseed supply in Canada due to dry weather during the first half of the year, has driven up prices in the EU as well as pushed prices of palm oil and soybean oil higher globally.

Argentina’s Senate has approved on July 16 a biofuels draft bill advocated by lawmakers from Argentina’s ruling coalition Frente de Todos by a 43-19 vote. The new biofuels legislation stipulates lower blending requirements for biodiesel and ethanol.

USDA lowered its soybean export forecast for Argentina and Brazil for the 2020/21 marketing year by 2.65m and 3m tons, respectively, according to the July Oil Crops Outlook report published every month by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The U.S. season-average soybean price for 2020/21 is forecast at $11.05/bushel, down $0.20 as early-season sales at lower prices continue to weigh on the season-average forecast, according to the July World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The soybean oil price is forecast at 57.5 cents/lb, down 1.5 cents/lb.

Calgary-based Tidewater Midstream is looking to develop a plant on its Prince George Refinery, in British Columbia, to convert vegetable oils, used cooking oil (UCO) and animal fats into renewable diesel.

Malaysia’s end-June palm oil stocks hit a seven-month high up by 0.04% from the previous month to 1.61 million tons, data from industry regulator Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) showed on Tuesday (July 13).

The Paraná River, which runs through Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, has hit the lowest historic water levels since 1944, according to Argentina’s National Water Institute (INA) due to scarce rainfall in the river basin, in Brazil, over the last three years.

The Argentine Senate is expected to vote this week on a new biofuels draft bill advocated by lawmakers from Argentina’s ruling coalition Frente de Todos, stipulating that the biodiesel mandate will be reduced from the current 10% to 5%, although the Energy Secretariat would have the flexibility to increase the blending mandate or reduce it to as low as 3% depending on market conditions.

Malaysia extended its national lockdown indefinitely as a counter measures against the spread of COVID-19, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced on Sunday.

Malaysia has kept its July export duty for crude palm oil at 8%, although it raised the reference price, a circular on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board website showed last week.