The company said that B100 taxation in Germany had led to a decreased demand for biodiesel, which, in turn, had caused the fuel option’s prices to fall. The company’s results were also impacted by non-optimal production costs during the start-up phase at its new biodiesel plant in Rostock, Germany.
The company attributed its increased sales to the new plant, which went into production at the end of 2006. In Q1 2007, Biopetrol produced more than 52,000 tonnes of biodiesel, or roughly 38% more compared to the previous year, and expects to increase annual capacity to 750,000 tonnes in 2008.
Biopetrol’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased 8.1% in Q1 2007 over Q1 2006, to E2 million, but earnings before interest and taxes stood at E0.5 million, down from E1.6 million the previous year, due to preproduction costs during construction work on two production facilities in Rotterdam.
According to Reuters, Klaus-Ulrich Henschel, Biopetrol’s CEO, has confirmed that the start-up of production at the company’s Rotterdam biodiesel plant has been delayed until Q1 2008 from the initial target of the end of 2007. Mr Henschel blamed the postponement on regulatory issues.
Biopetrol is gradually reducing its dependence on the German market, as a result of the region’s surplus capacities and tax burdens. The company currently does more than 30% of its business with customers outside of Germany, and hopes to reduce the proportion of sales in Germany and reliance on the German market to 40% by 2008.
The company is now looking to consolidate its position on the European biofuels market by increasing its presence in Scandinavia, the Benelux and Eastern Europe, Reuters reported.
