The United States imported near-record volumes of renewable diesel fuel in each of the first five months of this year, averaging 30,000 barrels a day, said the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The imports, which were 29 percent higher than in the same period in 2023, came from one producer, Neste, and were shipped almost wholly to the West Coast.
“Because California, Oregon, and Washington are the only states with active clean fuel programs that incentivize the consumption of renewable diesel beyond the incentives provided by federal policies, renewable diesel is primarily consumed on the West Coast,” said the EIA, which is part of the Energy Department. It said the larger imports were probably driven by the expansion of Neste’s plant in Singapore and increased storage capacity at a terminal in Los Angeles.
Roughly half of U.S. soybean oil is used to make biodiesel and renewable diesel. The fuels have different production methods. Domestic production of renewable diesel surpassed biodiesel in 2023 and reached 3 billion gallons.
Imports accounted for 20 percent of U.S. consumption of biomass-based diesel, the category that includes biodiesel and renewable diesel, from January through May, said the EIA. Their market share was 15 percent for the same period in 2023 and 10 percent in 2022.