The Biodiesel World News

According to industry sources, Philippine coconut oil exports slid 72.6 percent in April from a year earlier, marking its 10th consecutive month of decline, Reuters reports.

Shipments from the Southeast Asian producer, the world's biggest exporter of the commodity, slumped to 31,638 tonnes last month from 115,632 tonnes in April 2008, the United Coconut Associations of the Philippines Inc (UCAP) said in a report.

That brought exports for the first four months of the year to 134,438 tonnes, down 62.9 percent from the same period in 2008.

The Philippines expects exports of coconut oil, to dip to 835,000 tonnes this year from 847,626 tonnes in 2008, on soft global demand as well as its increasing use as feedstock by local bio-diesel producers.

The bio-fuels arm of the state-owned Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) has signed deals with three groups to start jatropha plantations in Biliran, Aklan and Iligan, BusinessWorld reports.

PNOC-Alternative Fuels Corp., will fund 200 hectares owned by the San Juan Capenyahan Producers Cooperative in Biliran, 450 hectares of the Malagsum Highlands Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Iligan, and 1,000 hectares of RSL Agro-Trade Company, Inc. (27 May 2009)

Creditors of Brazilian agribusiness group Agrenco Limited gathered in a general assembly approved importing and exporting company Glencore to manage the company's assets in Brazil, on a three-year mandate, Agência Estado reports. Agrenco has been under a judicial recovery plan since March.

Further, Agrenco said creditors approved the sale of its bio-diesel plant in the state of Paraná to bio-diesel producer Bsbios. US second-generation biofuel developer Amyris Biotechnologies has bought out Crystalsev's stake in a joint venture owned by both companies to produce diesel from cane in Brazil and aims to establish its own mill to guarantee its own cane supply, Reuters reports.

Amyris will look for partnerships with other Brazilian groups, and is now in talks with several to install industrial-scale plants next to existing mills. It plans to produce ethanol at its mill initially, converting the mill to cane diesel later in order to start producing diesel from 2011-2012. (27 May 2009)