Company makes 3rd cut to renewables business outlook this year
Reduces both margin and volume outlook
Weaker diesel market strikes biofuel rates
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By Elviira Luoma and Essi Lehto
HELSINKI, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Finnish refiner Neste on Wednesday cut the margin outlook for its biofuel company for the third time this year due to falling costs and likewise lowered its expected sales volumes, sending the business's share rate down 10%.
Neste said a drop in the price of regular diesel had actually impacted what it can charge for the biofuel it makes in Europe and Singapore, while input costs for waste and remained high.
A rush by U.S. fuel makers to recalibrate their plants to produce sustainable diesel has created a supply excess of low-emissions biofuels, hammering profit margins for refiners and threatening to hinder the nascent market.
Neste in a statement slashed the expected typical equivalent sales margin of its renewables system to in between $360-$480 per tonne of biofuel, down from $480-$580 per tonne seen in July and well listed below the $600-$800 seen in February.
The company now also anticipates renewables-based sales volumes in 2024 to be about 3.9 million tonnes rather of the 4.4 million it had actually anticipated considering that the start of the year, it added.
A part of the volume cut came from the production of sustainable aviation fuel, of which it is now expected to sell in between 350,000-550,000 tonnes this year, down from between 500,000 and 700,000 tonnes seen previously, Neste stated.
"Renewable products' sales prices have been negatively affected by a significant reduction in (the) diesel price during the third quarter," Neste said in a statement.
"At the exact same time, waste and residue feedstock costs have not decreased and sustainable item market value premiums have actually remained weak," the business added.
Industry executives and analysts have actually said rapidly expanding Chinese biodiesel producers are seeking new outlets in Asia for their exports, while Shell and BP have actually announced they are stopping briefly growth plans in Europe.
While the cut in Neste's assistance on sales volumes of sustainable aviation fuel came as a surprise, the unfavorable influence on biodiesel margins from a lower diesel rate was to be expected, Inderes analyst Petri Gostowski stated.
Neste's share cost had actually reversed some losses by 1037 GMT however remained down 5.8% on the day and 48% lower year-to-date. (Reporting by Elviira Luoma, Essi Lehto and Boleslaw Lasocki
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Refiner Neste Warns of Weaker Biofuel Outlook, Shares Drop
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