Argentine biodiesel imports hitting EU ****seed crushers - Imports of cheap Argentine biodiesel, which the EU permitted this autumn, are starting to cause problems for European ****seed crushing mills and may force them to cut production, a leading German industry executive said on Friday. "The outlook for crushing mill production in the new year is looking uncertain in the EU,†said Thorsten Tiedemann, chief operating officer at German grain and oilseeds group Getreide AG, which owns one of Germany’s largest ****seed crushing mills. The EU produces about 10 million tonnes of ****seed annually of which about 6 million tonnes is used for biodiesel production, he said. Getreide AG’s oilseed mill in Rostock in Germany can crush 1 million tonnes of ****seed annually, producing about 400,000 tonnes of vegetable oils and 600,000 tonnes of animal feed meals. "Until early December, ****seed oil was the main demand driver at our mill followed by ****seed meal,†Tiedemann said. "This is now changing because of the pressure from Argentine biodiesel imports and I think that from January ****seed meal will have to provide a larger share of revenues,†he told a conference organized by German agricultural newspaper Agrarzeitung. The European Union decided in September to reduce import duties on low price Argentine biodiesel after the South American country successfully challenged EU anti-dumping measures at the World Trade Organization. Meanwhile, the decision by the United States to impose anti-dumping duties on Argentine biodiesel in October is likely to mean more biodiesel sales by Argentine in Europe, Tiedemann said. "Expectations are that about 400,000 to 500,000 tonnes of Argentine biodiesel will be sold in the EU in coming months which will replace around 1 million tonnes of ****seed,†Tiedemann said. Finding alternative uses for ****seed will be hard, he said. Increasing EU exports of ****seed oil will be difficult because of intense price competition. EU ****seed crushing mills may have to reduce production, he said. (REUTERS)
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