RIN Traders Shrug at EPA Waivers, Look to Biden's Agenda
WASHINGTON, D.C. (DTN) -- Renewable Identification Numbers, credits that
indicate compliance with the Renewable Fuel Standard, continued higher for a
fourth consecutive session Wednesday, with the market sending 2020 D4 RINs to
their highest trade in two weeks even as Trump Administration's Environmental
Protection Agency late Tuesday approved three pending requests for small
refinery exemptions from meeting the federal program's blending obligations
before the Biden administration takes control of the agency.
The three requests equate to 260 million gallons of additional lost demand,
a move renewable industry groups said would be devastating for the domestic
biofuel industry following a harrowing 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In
decrying the 11th hour rulemaking illegal, the Renewable Fuels Association
filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
to stay the ruling.
"EPA's decision will inflict substantial, immediate, and irreversible harm"
on U.S. ethanol producers, according to RFA's emergency motion.
The emergency motion was enough to neutralize the bearish component of the
late Tuesday SREs for the RINs market, with traders focusing on the climate
legislative agenda of the incoming Biden administration that is seen bolstering
renewable fuels.
On the session, D4 RINs for 2021 rose 5cts to $1.03, while D4 2020 RINs
advanced 3cts to $1.05. Feedstock soybean oil surged 2% to 42.54cts gallon,
further lifting biodiesel prices and associated RIN values.
Liubov Georges, 1.646.359.4088, liubov.georges@dtn.com,
http://www.dtn.com.
(c) Copyright 2021 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.