Tag: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Palladium Finally Beats Platinum

Posted on by Aibek Burabayev

Aibek Burabayev - INO.com Contributor - Metals


Chart 1. Platinum Vs. Palladium: Crossed Swords

Platinum Vs. Palladium
Chart courtesy of tradingview.com

Sixteen years ago was the last time that platinum was cheaper than palladium in 2001 (black vertical line). By then palladium had spent a year in the dominant position over platinum, and at that time the price of both metals had been fluctuating around $600 level. Since then platinum has returned to its usual upper position to palladium, and the gap was growing exponentially in favor of platinum until it reached the peak with the $1600 of supremacy in 2008. After that, the gap began to narrow and last month it entirely evaporated as a global shift in the automotive industry showed a growing demand for gasoline and hybrid cars (palladium related) amid slowing demand for diesel cars (platinum related).

The Volkswagen emissions scandal started on the 18th of September 2015 (orange vertical line), when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice of violation. I dedicated a post in 2015 to that significant event. The price of both metals continued higher right after that news as the reaction time to such a report always has a gap in such a giant industry. Continue reading "Palladium Finally Beats Platinum" →

How To Profit From Government Mandates In Biofuels

Posted on by admin

The Energy Report: New proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements for the renewable fuel standards (RFS) program could change the landscape for biofuels. What is the new supply-and-demand picture for corn ethanol, biodiesel and sugarcane ethanol?

Brett Wong: This is a proposal, and not a confirmed mandate, which we expect to get by the end of November. The two most important pieces in the standards cover corn ethanol and biodiesel usage requirements. The new proposal for minimum corn ethanol use would be 13.4 billion gallons (13.4 Bgal), which creates a floor. The blendwall, based on Energy Information Administration's (EIA) expectations for gasoline consumption this year, is about 14 Bgal based on 10% ethanol content in gas, which car manufacturers say is a safe level for the fleet. That is the domestic ceiling. This leaves discretionary blending from 13.4 up to 14 Bgal. Beyond that, the demand is from exports, which use up the overall capacity of about 14.7 Bgal. Some people talk about 15 Bgal, but I think that includes some facilities that will never come back on line.

"Renewable Energy Group Inc. could be the biggest winner within the nonintegrated biodiesel providers."

We send a good amount of our ethanol to Canada, which has blending mandates as well. We send some to South America. Brazil has a large blend requirement of 27.5%, which was an increase from 25% last year. That country produces a lot of ethanol from sugarcane, but it has had some rough crop years and must import biofuel to fulfill mandates. There are also more exports going to Asia, where China is trying to clean up its air. Continue reading "How To Profit From Government Mandates In Biofuels" →

How to Profit from Government Mandates in Biofuels

Posted on by The INO.com Team

New proposed EPA requirements for the renewable fuel standard program, combined with challenging sugarcane harvests in South America, could increase demand for biodiesel, creating opportunity in a struggling energy sector. In this interview with The Energy Report, Piper Jaffray Analyst Brett Wong names a growing company that could profit from government mandates.

Projected Non-Hydropower Renewable Electricity Generation 2010-15

The Energy Report: New proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements for the renewable fuel standards (RFS) program could change the landscape for biofuels. What is the new supply-and-demand picture for corn ethanol, biodiesel and sugarcane ethanol? Continue reading "How to Profit from Government Mandates in Biofuels" →