London — Irish biodiesel sales in July fell by 4.7% compared with the same month a year earlier to 14.8 million liters, as ethanol sales dropped 10% to 4.45 million liters, according to the latest data from the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA).
Biodiesel sales also lost 1.5% on the month, as diesel sales tumbled 12% from June to 261.7 million liters. This left the incorporation rate for biodiesel at 5.65% on a volumetric basis, up from 5.05% in June, but down from 5.77% a year earlier.
Ethanol sales in comparison dropped 5.9% from June, however this was a greater fall than gasoline experienced, as it lost 4.1% on the month and 10% on the year to 87.3 million litres. As a result, the blending rate increased on the year, to 5.10% on a volumetric basis, from 5.09%, although this was lower that the 5.2% in June.
The biofuel mandate in Ireland is 8.695% on a volumetric basis, unchanged since January 1, 2017.
Ireland is a greater consumer of diesel than gasoline and so the amount of biodiesel consumed is expected to exceed that for ethanol over the course of 2018.
S&P Global Platts Analytics expects that, with an unchanged biofuels mandate and a declining gasoline market, ethanol demand will reach 52 million liters in 2018, down from 58 million liters last year, with production at 3 million liters, up from 2 million liters.