Belgium to ban palm and soyabean oils in biofuels

IN BRIEF

CHINA: Strong demand from China’s recovering livestock industry boosted the country’s first quarter imports of soyabeans and grains, Reuters reported from customs data on 13 April.

In the first three months of this year, China’s soyabean imports came in at 21.18M tonnes, up 19% from 17.79M tonnes last year. In March alone, the country imported 7.77M tonnes of the oilseed, up 82% from a year ago.

Crushers had previously stepped up soyabean purchases, anticipating healthy demand from the recovering pig farming sector. However, African swine fever outbreaks had wiped out at least 20% of the breeding herd in northern China, Reuters said.

Belgium to ban palm and soyabean oils in biofuels

Palm and soyabean oils will be banned from biofuel production in Belgium in a bid to halt deforestation, The Brussels Times reported a government minister as saying on 13 April.

Belgium had notified the European Commission on 22 March of its plan, The Western Producer wrote.

Federal Minister for Environment and Climate Zakia Khattabi said that following the examples of Denmark, France and the Netherlands, biofuels made from palm oil would no longer be allowed on either the Belgian market or in the transport sector from 2022, The Brussels Times wrote. Soyabean oil would also be banned as a raw material for transport fuels from 2023.

Between 2019 and 2020, the use of palm biodiesel had increased ten-fold on the Belgian market to 231M litres, according to the minister, adding that producers would have to move towards other-generation biofuels from 2022.

“To produce the quantity of biodiesel for the Belgian market, palm oil plantations are needed with a total area of more than 100,000 football pitches. We know from studies that at least half of these palm oil plantations are planted on land that has been deforested in the recent past.”

The move was the first measure taken by Belgium since joining the Amsterdam Declarations Partnership, an agreement aimed at eliminating deforestation in relation to agricultural commodities by 2025, Khattabi said.

Belgium is acting ahead of the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive II, which caps the use of high risk indirect land use change (ILUC) biofuels at 2019 levels until 2023, and then phases them out by 2030. Only palm oil falls under this definition and both Malaysia and Indonesia have requested World Trade Organization dispute consultations with the EU regarding these measures, saying they are an unreasonable trade barrier.

China may prohibit cannabis extracts in cosmetics

New legislation prohibiting the use of cannabis and cannabis extracts in cosmetics is being proposed by the Chinese government, Jing Daily reported on 29 March from an announcement on the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control’s (NIFDC) website.

The legislation would include Cannabis sativa kernel fruit, Cannabis sativa seed oil, Cannabis sativa leaf, as well as cannabidiol (CBD).

China’s proposed ban contrasted with the Western approach where the complex regulatory landscape was being simplified, Jing Daily wrote,

China has proposed banning cannabis and its extracts in comestics Photo: Adobe Stock

although it was in line with measures in other Asian countries where oversight of CBD products was still restricted.

CBD is one of the two most common compounds found in cannabis, the other being tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). CBD does not contain any psychoactive properties, unlike THC, and its use in skin care and beauty produts has grown in recent years.

Marijuana is classified as a dangerous narcotic drug in China and the possession of hemp seeds is criminalised.

If China continued to prohibit cannabis-related ingredients in cosmetics, some industry figures claimed it would lead to the loss of a huge market opportunity, Jing Daily wrote.

Vicentin returns to full capacity following toll deals

Argentine crusher Vicentin has returned to full production at its San Lorenzo crushing plant for the first time since defaulting on its contracts in December 2019, AgriCensus reported on 17 March.

The return to full crushing capacity followed a number of toll agreements with companies including grain cooperative ACA and Unión Agrícola de Avellaneda (UAA).

The Santa Fe plant had a monthly crushing capacity of approximately 400,000 tonnes, a company spokesperson said.

“The plant is working at its full capacity ... and during March and April, Vicentin has toll agreements that will guarantee the use of the total capacity,” the source added.

Vicentin had previously agreed a toll agreement with grain exporter Diaz & Forti to operate most of the capacity of its San Lorenzo crushing plant, but the firm was not currently crushing as it had also run into financial difficulties, AgriCensus said.

The company had also reactivated its sunflower crushing plant in Ricardone, Santa Fe, after negotiating a toll agreement with local cooperative UAA, AgriCensus reported.

Vicentin has faced financial problems since defaulting on payments to grain suppliers and brokerage firms in December 2019. At the time, it was reported to owe US$350M to grain suppliers, with a total debt of US$1.5bn.

NEWS

COFCO merger to create ag giant

China’s largest food company COFCO is planning to merge its international trading arm with several domestic businesses to create an agribusiness giant with assets across multiple continents, Global AgInvesting reported on 16 March.

State-owned COFCO owned a 60% stake in its international trading arm COFCO International, with the remainder owned by five partners: Temasek, Standard Chartered Bank, China Investment Corporation, Hopu Investment Management, and the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank.

The merger, if it went ahead, would be followed by an initial public offering (IPO) – likely to take place in Shanghai – of the new entity, Global AgInvesting wrote.

Founded in 1949, China Oil and Food Corporation (COFCO)’s core business is based on grain, edible oil, sugar and cotton. According to its website, COFCO has total assets of US$85.44bn, an annual revenue of US$71.8bn, processing capacity of 90M tonnes/year and an annual port transit capacity of 65M tonnes.

In China alone, COFCO has an integrated processing capacity of more than 60M tonnes and is the country's largest food processing company, with products including rice, wheat, corn, edible oil and oilseeds, sugar, cotton, meat and dairy products, wine and tea. On the global stage, COFCO said it was an industry leader in rice, wheat, corn, edible oil, oilseeds, sugar and cotton in over 140 countries, earning more than 50% of its operating income from overseas business. • The merger of state-owned Chinese chemical giants – Sinochem Group and ChemChina Group – was confirmed by the Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council on its website on 31 March, China News reported.

Sinochem Group is a leading operator in the oil and chemical industry, providing agricultural inputs (seeds, agrochemicals and fertilisers) and agricultural services.

The new company would have operations in life sciences, material sciences, the basic chemical industry, rubber tyres and urban operations, according to Sinochem.

Start-up develops pennycress for biodiesel, meal

A US agricultural startup has developed a cover crop derived from field pennycress that produces an oil for use in sustainable fuel and animal feed, Des Moines Register reported on 31 March.

CoverCress had attracted investment from agribusiness giants including Bunge and Bayer, and planned to make its cash cover crop available on limited acreage in Illinois later this year before expanding to commercial-scale next year, the report said.

Cover crops such as cereal rye and oats are planted near the autumn corn harvest, putting roots in the ground to anchor the soil and nutrients during winter and spring, then harvested in May before soyabeans are planted, according to the report. While they had soil and environmental benefits, they offered few commercial opportunities, although many livestock producers grazed cattle on cover crops.

CoverCress said its pennycress cover crop produced an oilseed that could be processed to produce oil for renewable diesel, biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuel. Farmers could earn US$50/ acre from the crop.

Plant breeding was being used to increase yield and accelerate maturity of the crop, along with gene editing to improve the oil and meal quality.

CoverCress said it expected US farmers to plant the cover crop on up to 1.6Mha by 2030.

CoverCress' cover crop is derived from field pennycress Photo: Adobe Stock

IN BRIEF

BRAZIL: Brazil has temporarily suspended import duties on corn, soyabeans and soya oil and meal until the end of this year in an attempt to slow inflation fuelled by rising commodities prices, Reuters reported on 19 April.

The Chamber of Foreign Commerce (Camex) had already approved the suspension of import taxes on soyabeans and corn until 15 January and 31 March respectively, the report said.

Ukraine proposes measures to fight inflation

The Ukrainian government has proposed a package of measures for sunflower seed crushers and retailers in a bid to stabilise domestic prices for bottled sunflower oil, AgriCensus reported on 15 March.

The plan aimed to limit the impact of food price inflation until the new crop’s arrival in July.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Economic Development had sent out a draft asking for feedback from the industry.

“Participants would agree for the period of validity of this memorandum to not allow the sale price of sunflower oil to increase above the price level that has developed in retail chains as of 1 March 2021,” the draft document read.

The government said it would also keep the current import and export regulations unchanged and offer crushers “favourable credit resources”.

However, Ukraine’s sunflower sector had indicated that the proposal would be economically unviable as seed prices had soared by over a third since the start of 2021, AgriCensus said.

“This decision will cause harm to Ukrainian oil producers, since it is not wise to regulate the end product price without considering the cost of the raw material,” a crusher told AgriCensus.

Sunflower seed prices in Ukraine have surged following a prolonged drought, with Ukrainian farmers harvesting only 14M tonnes of seeds, down 15% on the year, according to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) data.

No official decision had been made yet with the memorandum, AgriCensus wrote.

IN BRIEF

USA: US cultivated fat firm Mission Barns has raised US$24M in funding to scale up production and build a pilot plant in the San Francisco Bay area, the company announced on 7 April.

The company had developed a process of cultivating meat from animal cells with a focus on producing animal fat which can be added to meat alternative products.

Mission Barns said it had developed a number of products incorporating its fat, both on its own and through collaborations with meat companies and plant protein partners.

CANADA: Canada's canola oil exports rose by 7% in 2020 with the largest volumes heading to the USA and China but Europe re-emerging as a buyer, according to a report by Germany’s Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants, based on Canola Council of Canada data.

The country’s canola oil exports were just under 3.4M tonnes in 2020, a 7% increase on 2019. Chinese imports surged 26% to 1.1M tonnes compared to 2019. The USA remained the top importer, bringing in 1.7M tonnes. Other important buyers included Chile, Mexico and South Korea.

The EU ranked as the sixth most important destination, with an import volume of 48,200 tonnes. The region had not imported any canola oil from Canada in the previous two years.

Sri Lanka bans palm oil imports, new plantations

The government of Sri Lanka has banned palm oil imports and new palm plantations as well as instructing producers to uproot existing plantations, Reuters reported on 5 April.

Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa was quoted as saying in a statement that the aim was to “make the country free from oil palm plantation and palm oil consumption”.

“Those companies and entities which have done such (palm oil) cultivations shall be required to remove them in a phased manner with 10% uprooting at a time and replacing it with the cultivation of rubber or environmental-friendly crops each year,” the statement continued.

Sri Lanka imports around 200,000 tonnes/year of palm oil, mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, according to estimates from traders. Reuters said the number of plantations had also increased in recent years. The country’s Palm Oil Industry Association estimates that Sri Lanka has around 11,000ha of oil palm plantations – just over 1% of the country's total planted area.

Malaysia's Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Dr Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali said Sri Lanka's ban on palm oil imports was not expected to affect the country's industry as imports were growing in several regions such as Africa and the Middle East.

“The world has a population of over seven billion people and we are confident our palm oil will be accepted worldwide," the Star reported him as saying on 7 April.

JBS adds Vivera to plant-based portfolio

Vivera has a range of more than 50 plant-based food products Photo: Adobe Stock

Brazilian meat processing giant JBS is buying Dutch plant-based meat company Vivera for US$408.11M, Reuters reported on 19 April.

Vivera is active in the Dutch, German and UK markets and is the third largest plant-based protein company in Europe, accounting for around 60% of the region's plant-based protein market, according to JBS. It has a range of more than 50 products, which are available in 25 European countries.

Soya is a major ingredient in Vivera’s products, which include plant nuggets, chicken plant burgers, plant mince and plant garlic kievs. The GMOfree soyabeans are sourced from China, France and North America, according to Vivera's website. Vegetable oils are also an integral ingredient in Vivera's plant garlic kievs, for example, containing coconut oil, sunflower oil and rapeseed oil and its plant steak containing sunflower oil and coconut oil. Other ingredients include wheat protein, maize starch and yeast extract.

The acquisition would add to JBS’ other plant-based initiatives such as its Seara unit’s Incrível brand in Brazil and the OZO brand in the USA, increasing its exposure in the meatless sector, said JBS chief executive Gilberto Tomazoni.

JBS is the world's largest meat processing company by sales, selling beef, chicken, pork and their by-products for use in biodiesel, feed ingredients and personal care and cleaning products.

Cargill invests in Bflike with patent-pending fat platform

Global agribusiness giant Cargill has invested in Dutch plant-based meat start-up Bflike, the firms announced on 22 April.

“Global volume consumption of protein is expected to nearly double by 2050," said Belgin Köse, segment director of enrichment & renewability for Cargill Starches, Sweeteners & Texturizers (CSST) Europe. "Plant-based protein will help fulfill growing consumer desire for more options as part of a balanced diet.”

Bflike's technology includes patent-pending vegan fat and blood platforms which can be used to produce plant-based meat and fish alternative products. Food manufacturers and retailers would be able to license Bflike’s technology and premix ingredients to create their own products, Cargill said.

The Cargill-Bflike collaboration would help customers move from the pilot stage to the commercialisation of their products using their own production process and machinery, the companies said.

CSST’s portfolio includes sweeteners, starches, ethanol, acidulants, proteins, texturisers, corn oil, dry corn ingredients, specialities and animal feed ingredients.