First Brazilian export biodiesel shipped to Rotterdam
June 25, the Brazilian biofuel producer BSBios made Brazil’s first-ever export of biodiesel in commercial volumes. The company shipped a load of 22 tons of the biofuel to the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The export of biodiesel is one of the ways that the industry’s businesses are seeking to expand production at the plants — which today, on average, are operating with 60% idle capacity, said in the port's press release.
The biggest problem, according to them, are taxes incurring throughout the supply chain, which make the product uncompetitive. Another complaint is the slow bureaucracy for obtaining tax credits through the Kandir Law. BSBios has capacity to produce 350 million liters of biodiesel per year at its two plants in Marialva (Paraná) and Passo Fundo (Rio Grande do Sul). The units received, respectively, in 2009 and 2011, funding from Petrobras Biofuel, which now owns a 50% stake in the two facilities.
