Latest Oleochemical News

Malaysia Extends Total Lockdown to End-June
Malaysia announced an extension to the first-phase of its national lockdown until June 28, keeping workforce capacity in enclosed spaces like palm oil and biodiesel processing plants limited to 60%, while plantation and nursery workforce capacity still being able to operate as normal at 100%, according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB).

Calumet to Add Pretreatment Plant to Montana Renewable Diesel Project
Calumet Specialty Products Partners, an independent producer of hydrocarbon products headquartered in Indiana, announced June 9 that it will add a pretreatment plant to its renewable diesel project at its Great Falls, Montana, as it continues to evaluate feedstock supply partners.

Malaysia End-May Palm Oil Stocks Rose by 1.49%
Malaysia’s end-May palm oil stocks hit a six-month high up by 1.49% from the previous month to 1.57 million tons, data from industry regulator Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) showed on Thursday.

UrbanX Group Signs FEED Contract For Its Renewable Diesel Facility in Bakersfield
UrbanX Renewables Group of Long Beach, based in California, announced June 2 that it has executed its front-end engineering design (FEED) contract with Hyundai Engineering for a renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) biorefinery in California.

Cargill to Build New Palm Oil Refinery in Indonesia
Global food and biofuels corporation Cargill, based in Minnesota, is building a sustainable palm oil refinery in Lampung, Indonesia, which is expected to be completed in late 2022.

Coconut Oil’s Price Volatile on Covid-19 Restrictions, Adverse Weather
Extreme volatility has been seen on coconut oil (CNO) in recent months likely due to Covid-19 restrictions and adverse weather in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Vertex Energy to Acquire Shell’s Alabama Refinery
Equilon Enterprises, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, announced it has agreed to sell its 90,000 bbls/day Mobile Chemical Refinery in Alabama to Vertex Energy, a Texas-based specialty refiner of alternative feedstocks and marketer of petroleum products.

Indonesia Crude Palm Oil (CPO) Export Tax Higher in June
Indonesia has raised the crude palm oil (CPO) export tax by $183/mt for June, up from $144/mt in the previous month, an official document on its trade ministry website showed.

Malaysia Limits Palm Oil Workforce Capacity in Plants to 60% Amid New Lockdown
Malaysia announced a national total lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the country, shutting down almost all economic and social sectors with the exception of essential activities from June 1-14, 2021.

ExxonMobil and Global Clean Energy Expand Renewable Fuels Agreement
ExxonMobil, a petroleum company and chemical manufacturer headquartered in Texas, has expanded its five-year agreement with Global Clean Energy, to increase ExxonMobil’s purchase of renewable diesel up to 5 million bbls/year.

Marathon Converts Dickinson Refinery Into a Renewable Diesel Plant
Marathon Petroleum, an energy company headquartered in Ohio, has converted its Dickinson Refinery in North Dakota into a renewable diesel plant, with the ability to run in part using wind power.

NOAA Predicts Another Active Atlantic Hurricane Season
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its 2021 Atlantic hurricane season outlook May 20, predicting another active season.

Howard Energy Partners to Expand Port Arthur Facility to Support New DGD Plant
Howard Energy Partners (HEP), a Texas-based independent midstream energy company, announced last week that it has executed long-term agreements with Diamond Green Diesel (DGD) and plans to significantly expand its Port Arthur, Texas terminal facilities to support DGD’s new plant.

Malaysia Maintains 8% Crude Palm Oil Export Duty for June
Malaysia has kept its June export duty for crude palm oil at 8%, though it raised the reference price, a circular on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board website showed this week.

Brazil’s National Energy Agency Approves Renewable Diesel Specifications in Brazil
The Collegiate Board of Brazil’s National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP) on May 13 approved a resolution setting the specifications of renewable diesel to be sold in the country.

Argentina’s Soybean Oil Export Capacity Likely to Increase On New Biofuels Law
The potential approval of a draft bill to set a new biofuels law with new blending mandates is likely to increase the volume of soybean oil available for export from Argentina as the volume of soybean oil that will not be used for biodiesel production will have to go to the export market, experts say.

USDA Sees Tight Soybean Stocks Continuing Into the 2021/22 Crop Year
The 2021/22 outlook for US soybeans is for lower supplies and exports and higher ending stocks compared with 2020/21, according to the May World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

ADM to Build New Soy Crushing Facility to Meet Increasing Demand for Renewable Products
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), a multinational food processing and commodities trader corporation headquartered in Chicago, announced on Monday its plan to build North Dakota’s first-ever dedicated soybean crushing plant and refinery to meet fast-growing demand from food, feed, industrial and biofuel customers, including producers of renewable diesel.