Argus launches Asia-Pacific biofuels on its price-discovery platform

Global energy and commodity price-reporting agency Argus has extended its Argus Open Markets real-time electronic price-discovery platform to include used cooking oil (UCO) and used cooking oil methyl ester (UCOME) prices in Asia-Pacific.

The Asia-Pacific UCO and UCOME markets are growing quickly as stricter emissions-reduction targets around the world drive rising demand for renewable feedstocks and fuels.

UCO is one of the most sought-after feedstocks, not only for UCOME production but also for hydrotreated renewable products such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), bionaphtha and biopropane.

The Asia-Pacific region is a major supplier of UCO, with China the largest producer globally.

This makes the region critically important in the European market’s efforts to comply with targets set under the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive.

The AOM platform offers real-time price transparency daily between 5:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Singapore time for Asia-Pacific UCO and UCOME markets and enables registered market participants to post bids and offers, and to initiate trades for these products.

The March 14 launch of Asia biofuels on AOM generated lively activity on the platform with multiple bids and offers posted, and a successful trade initiated between Petrochina International (Hainan) and Guangzhou Leo-King Environmental Tech for RED UCOME exported from China.

Argus is a leading publisher of biofuel benchmarks around the world. Its FAME 0 (fatty acid methyl ester), RME (rapeseed oil methyl ester) and UCOME price assessments are the industry standards used in physical and term contracts in Europe, the region which has led the world in the adoption of biofuels in road-transport fuels.

“The Asia-Pacific region is a huge source of growth of biofuel production, consumption and trading,” said Adrian Binks, Argus Media chairman and chief executive. “We have worked closely with the industry to launch Argus Open Markets, which enables efficient and transparent price discovery and will help the biofuels market develop and fulfil its important role in the energy transition.”