New York | Reuters — A week after the White House suspended its bid to reform the nation’s biofuels policy to aid oil refiners, the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday dangled a tantalizing prospect to Midwest corn farmers, saying the agency has the power to expand sales of higher-ethanol gasoline blends.
U.S. EPA chief hints he could order more ethanol in fuel
Trump administration weighs high-ethanol fuel waiver to placate farmers
New York | Reuters — The Trump administration is considering allowing the sale of a higher-ethanol fuel blend in the summer, a source familiar with the issue said, a move that would placate corn growers worried about the future of U.S. biofuels policy. U.S. President Donald Trump recently met with the heads of the Environmental
Cargill expands food starch line-up in ‘clean label’ push
New York | Reuters — Global commodities trader Cargill said on Tuesday it will increase its offerings of starch product options, seeking to capture rising demand for simpler ingredients and to meet changing consumer tastes. The Minneapolis-based agribusiness will now sell new “native starches” produced from plants such as corn and wheat, as an alternative
U.S. proposes cutting biofuels requirements due to ‘market realities’
New York | Reuters — The U.S. government on Wednesday proposed reducing the volumes of biofuel required to be used in gasoline and diesel in 2018, in a move that could mark the first step towards a broader overhaul to the controversial energy policy. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposal marked a slight decline
Ethanol group, Icahn clash over details of U.S. biofuel negotiation
New York | Reuters — The head of the Renewable Fuels Association says billionaire investor Carl Icahn told him last week U.S. President Donald Trump was about to issue an order overhauling the U.S. biofuels program — something both Icahn and the White House have denied. Confusion over Trump’s plans for the Renewable Fuel Standard
White House denies Trump order on biofuels program
Reuters — The White House on Tuesday denied that U.S. President Donald Trump planned to issue an executive order to change the national biofuels program, after the U.S. Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) said Trump’s team had informed the group an order was pending. Trading in U.S. refinery shares, fuel futures and corn prices was turbulent
In Trump freeze, U.S. agencies delay rules affecting farms
The move creates an air of uncertainty surrounding key provisions, such as the U.S. renewable fuel standard
U.S. regulators under the new presidential administration have instituted a freeze on rules key to the country’s Farm Belt, agricultural groups said Jan. 26, heightening uncertainty for some of the regions that helped propel Donald Trump into office. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will delay implementation of this year’s biofuels requirements along with 29 other regulations
U.S. farmers race to ready for Hurricane Matthew’s blast
New York | Reuters — Hurricane Matthew, the fiercest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade, roiled commodities markets and forced companies from cane refiners to orange juice makers to shutter as it whipped its way toward the southeastern U.S. on Thursday. Southeastern companies were closing down operations ahead of a storm that could threaten some
U.S. refiners revamp operations as renewable fuel costs surge
Pressure is building to tweak renewable fuel standards as refiner profit margins are crushed
U.S. oil refiners, beset by the weakest profit margins in six years, have been laying off workers, revamping operations and ratcheting up pressure on regulators and lawmakers to tweak the renewable fuel program, whose costs have ballooned. The top 10 U.S. independent refiners look set to take a record hit on renewable fuel credits this
Trump biofuel proposals echo those of backer Icahn
New York | Reuters — Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump on Thursday appeared to weigh into a debate over a controversial U.S. biofuels program with a proposal that would back the position of billionaire investor Carl Icahn, one of his wealthiest backers. In a factsheet on economic policy, the Trump campaign slammed a system of
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