Members of the Argentinian Biofuels Association, or CARBIO, exported 48,960 mt of biodiesel in April, a 42.4% month-on-month fall and a drop of 42.1% compared with a year earlier, according to data from the industry body Wednesday.
CARBIO members account for the vast majority of exports from the country, giving a good indication of export volumes before official quarterly government data is released.
Export figures from May onward are likely to have risen, after sales picked up in anticipation of an extension into the rest of the year of a retroactive cut to March export taxes. The extension of the cut to 11% from 21% for the remainder of 2014 was confirmed last week.
Meanwhile, April production for CARBIO members was actually higher at 142,470 mt, up from 121,194 mt.
This was offset somewhat by a 12,254 mt rise in local sales to 19,412 mt, with a higher March official selling price likely to have helped. Producers which had previously been holding back on domestic sales due to negative margins on the OSP decided to step back into the market after it was increased.
Despite this increase, the inventory build for the month was still just over 74,000 mt, according to the CARBIO figures. Total exports and consumption for the calendar year to April was 310,909 mt against production of 536,724 mt.
A tax exemption on local consumption worth 41% at the pump was also approved into law in May, which could go some way toward improving the appetite of consumers to pay above the OSP, but domestic usage would need to pick up considerably to meet government mandates.
The blending rate in April was 7.21%, or 72,005 mt, for biodiesel from all Argentine producers, according to the CARBIO data, which was below the volume quota set at the beginning of the year of 105,031 mt. This came about even though actual middle distillate usage has outstripped forecasts and the mandated 10% of actual middle distillate consumption would have been 112,917 mt.