FutureFuel biodiesel production offline until March at earliest
Chemical and biodiesel producer FutureFuel Corp. announced Jan. 31 that it will not be producing biodiesel until March at the earliest.
FutureFuel said that it initiated its scheduled annual maintenance and turnaround of its 60-million-gallon-per-year biodiesel plant in Batesville, Arkansas, at the end of December.
The company said the turnaround has proven more extensive than expected.
As a result, FutureFuel said it currently estimates the turnaround will continue through February.
“Biodiesel production will not commence until this turnaround is complete,” the company stated.
FutureFuel also noted that “biodiesel production has been enabled through the support of Section 40A, the blenders tax credit, which expired on Dec. 31, 2024. This key incentive program has been replaced by a producer’s tax credit, 45Z, which became effective Jan. 1, 2025.”
The company added that the applicable government agencies have not yet published sufficient details of the 45Z clean fuel production credit, which was passed in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
“This creates a level of uncertainty for the biodiesel industry, which has caused other biodiesel producers and their capacity to go offline,” FutureFuel stated. “The company will be closely monitoring this as it considers its approach to biodiesel production and its role in the biofuels market.”
FutureFuel is a leading manufacturer of diversified chemical products, specialty chemical products and biofuel products.
In its chemicals business, FutureFuel manufactures specialty chemicals for specific customers (custom chemicals), as well as multicustomer specialty chemicals (performance chemicals).
FutureFuel’s custom-chemicals product portfolio includes proprietary intermediates for major chemical companies and chlorinated polyolefin adhesion promoters and antioxidant precursors for a major chemical company.
The company’s performance-chemicals product portfolio includes polymer (nylon) modifiers and several small-volume specialty chemicals for diverse applications.
FutureFuel’s biofuels segment primarily produces and sells biodiesel.
It also refines glycerin, a byproduct of biodiesel production, and sells it under the FutureSol® brand.
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