US Biodiesel and Ag Groups Try to Block Palm Oil

Green Car Congress: US Biodiesel and Ag Groups Try to Block Palm Oil
July 17, 2005 -- Original Source, Des Moines Register

The Des Moines Register reports that the American Soybean Association and the National Biodiesel Board are attempting to have the IRS explicitly exclude palm oil from the list of virgin oils to which the new biodiesel tax credit applies.
The two groups are concerned about the potential for lower-cost palm oil, imported from Malaysia and Indonesia, to encroach into the US market. Fediol, the EU’s vegetable oil federation, recently speculated that palm oil could supply up to 20% of the EU’s biodiesel needs by 2010. (Earlier post.)

There’s little indication that palm oil is headed here for fuel use anytime soon, and there are questions about how well it would work in fuel. Still, palm oil now costs several cents a pound less than soybean oil, and that has farmers worried.