Italian biodiesel feedstock imports lacklustre

Italian imported no cotton or castor oil for integrated Eni's domestic hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) operations in November again, according to latest customs data. Imports of palm fatty acid distillates (Pfad) declined on the month.

Although it never stipulated import volumes, Eni had said it expected 20,000t of cotton seed oil production in 2023, rising to 200,000t by 2026. But this has yet to translate into imported cargoes. According to customs data Eni imported 78t of cotton oil under the import code 151221 in 2022, and 20t in January-November last year.

Eni did take delivery of its first cargoes of castor oil from a grains and bulk liquids terminal in Mombasa, in July and August, amounting to 7,400t, but none was received in September-November.

Italian imports of Pfad were 665,000t in January-November, up by 12.5pc on the same period in 2022. Deliveries fell to 50,000t in November from 60,000t on the month. Imports under the 1511 palm oil code were 1.1mn t in January-November, lower by 11pc on the year.

Italian imports of palm oil mill effluent (Pome) under the EU's 15220099 import tariff code rose in the first 11 months of 2023, reaching close to 65,000t, up from 28,000t a year earlier and the highest for the period.

Questions remain over the ability of customs regimes to match biofuel feedstocks. Accreditation bodies admit customs tariff codes lack connection to biofuels regulations. It is likely an unspecified part of the feedstock imported as Pfad, is actually Pome.

A significant slice of Italy's Pfad and Pome imports go to Musim Mas' 250,000 t/yr biodiesel plant at Livorno. The firm re-engineered the plant to run on palm oil waste products. As Italy halted the use of palm products in its biofuels mix, all output from this feedstock is likely to be exported, mainly to the US and Spain.

By Adam Porter

Italy palm pfad pome 000 t