German biofuel maker Verbio to sell grain trading unit

German biofuels producer Verbio said on April 30 it will put its grain trading unit up for sale and reduce raw material purchasing in Germany for biofuels output after a difficult biofuels market caused losses.
Verbio’s production of biodiesel and bioethanol between July 1, 2012, to March 31, 2013, fell 66,000 tons to 376,000 from the same period a year before, a company statement said.
Verbio said it expects to report a loss in this period of €43.3 million (US$55.8 million) against a profit of €6.6 million (US$ 8.5 million) during the same period a year ago.
“The changed framework and market conditions for biofuels within the European Union,” were behind the weaker performance, the statement said, particularly from soybean oil and palm oil, as well as biodiesel from used cooking oil.
“Until now Verbio has exclusively relied on local value creation and use of raw materials from sustainable domestic production for the generation of biofuels,” Verbio said.
The EU is considering anti-dumping duties on Argentine and Indonesian biodiesel and has starting registering green fuel imports from the two countries.
“The measures initiated by the EU commission against the subsidized imports as well as the verification obligations for biodiesel from used cooking oil, which are subject to stricter requirements since January 1, 2013, have shown positive effects, but did not yet lead to a biodiesel market recovery,” Verbio said.
The company said it will seek buyers or joint ventures for grain trade subsidiary Maerka Group and end its policy of concentrating on local German purchases of grains and oilseeds for biofuels output.
Maerka has largely sourced German grains and rapeseed for Verbio production and traded 1.3 million tons of grains and oilseeds in 2011, Maerka’s homepage said.
(April 30, 2013)