US imports record volume of biodiesel from Spain in October

The U.S. imported more biodiesel from Spain in October 2023 than ever before, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

In October, the U.S. received more than 13.3 million gallons from Spain.

This marks two months in a row in which Spain shipped record volumes of biodiesel to the U.S.

In September, 12.8 million gallons of biodiesel from Spain entered U.S. ports, which was the highest monthly volume on record at the time.

Total U.S. biodiesel imports for the month of October came to 42.7 million gallons, down from a six-year monthly high in September of nearly 54 million gallons.

Following the No. 1 spot fulfilled by Spain in October was Canada, which shipped nearly 12 million gallons of biodiesel to the U.S. during the month.

Nearly 6 million gallons came from Germany.

Belgium sent more than 4.2 million gallons of biodiesel to the U.S. in October, followed by slightly less from Italy (4.16 million gallons) and just over 3 million gallons from South Korea.

U.S. imports of renewable diesel continued a downward trend in October, hitting more than 14.7 million gallons for the month, down from over 17 million gallons in September and plummeting nearly 70 percent from the all-time monthly high of almost 48.3 million gallons in May 2023.

More than 12.2 million gallons of renewable diesel entered the U.S. in October from Singapore.

Just over 2.5 million gallons came from the Netherlands.

U.S. biodiesel exports approached 19 million gallons in October, up from 17.2 million gallons in September but down from April’s all-time monthly peak of nearly 44 million gallons on record*.

A vast majority—nearly 17.5 million gallons—was shipped to Canada.

The U.S. sent over 1.4 million gallons of biodiesel to Peru in October.

*Editor’s Note: EIA’s monthly data goes back to January 2011. In 2008, during the height of splash and dash and before Europe imposed duties on U.S. biodiesel, the U.S. exported a record 700 million gallons of biodiesel. Certainly some if not all the months in 2008 featured higher U.S. export volumes than April or June 2023.