20110630 1053 Biofuels Related News.

U.S. SENATE TRIO WORKS ON ETHANOL SUBSIDY OVERHAUL
WASHINGTON, June 28 (Reuters) - Three senators are working on a legislative framework to replace the $6 billion a year U.S. ethanol tax credit with far less costly incentives such as helping retailers pay for so-called blender pumps.
The package could terminate the excise tax credit as early as July 1, an industry insider said on Tuesday. He said the  challenge for biofuels is how to expand sales and a key way is is to introduce pumps that would allow drivers to choose blends from 10 to 85 percent ethanol.

FROST CLIPS BRAZIL WINTER CORN CROP, PRICES RISE
SAO PAULO, June 28 (Reuters) - The first widespread frost hit Brazil's leading grain state of Parana in the past two mornings, hurting the quality of what is expected to be a record output for the winter corn crop, officials said.
Prices for the state's corn rose 4 percent after news of the extent of the frost became more widely known.

US GOVT ISSUES PUMP LABELS FOR GASOLINE WITH MORE ETHANOL
WASHINGTON, June 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. government  approved new ethanol labels for gasoline pumps on Tuesday to warn drivers to use the right blend for their car, but critics said consumers might still become confused.
The Environmental Protection Agency required the new orange and black labels after it approved a 50 percent boost in the ethanol blend rate in gasoline for cars built since 2001.

RAIN SLOWS BRAZIL SUGAR, ETHANOL OUTPUT
BRASILIA, June 28 (Reuters) - Rains in the first half of June slowed harvesting of Brazil's sugarcane crop, cutting the pace of sugar and ethanol production after it perked up in late May, the cane industry association Unica said on Tuesday.
Sugar production in Brazil's center-south totaled 1.99 million tonnes in the second half of June, down 14 percent from the same two-week period a year ago, cane industry association Unica said on Tuesday.

BIOFUELS MAY CUT BRAZIL'S SOYOIL EXPORTS-OIL WORLD
HAMBURG, June 28 (Reuters) - Rising biodiesel production may cut Brazil's 2011 soyoil exports and Argentina's soyoil shipments will also be lower than potential, Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World said on Tuesday.
Brazil, the world's No. 2 soyoil exporter, may sell only 1.50 million tonnes of soyoil overseas in the 2011 calendar year, down from 1.56 million tonnes in 2010, Oil World forecasts.

BIOFUEL FIRM KIOR MAKES LACKLUSTER MARKET DEBUT
BANGALORE, June 24 (Reuters) - Biofuels maker KiOR Inc  made a quiet market debut on Friday, a day after the private equity-backed firm's initial public offering raised a quarter less than initially expected.
Shares of the company closed at $15 on Nasdaq, the price they debuted at, after lackluster trading throughout the day.
"We weren't surprised," Morningstar analyst Bill Buhr said.

NOBLE GROUP TO BUILD BIODIESEL PLANT IN ARGENTINA
BUENOS AIRES, June 22 (Reuters) - Commodity trader Noble Group  will invest $50 million in a biodiesel plant in Argentina, President Cristina Fernandez said on Wednesday.
Argentina is one of the world's biggest exporters of biodiesel, producing the fuel from ample supplies of soybean oil, and production has skyrocketed in recent years.

US ETHANOL PRODUCTION UP 2 PCT IN WEEK
KANSAS CITY, Mo., June 22 (Reuters) - U.S. ethanol production rose 2.4 percent in the latest reporting week, edging higher after a slide the prior week, the government said on Wednesday.
Ethanol output totaled 901,000 barrels per day (bpd) for the week ended June 17, down up 21,000 bpd over the previous week, even as ethanol stocks fell 236,000 barrels to 19.51 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said in its weekly petroleum report.

BRAZIL SUGAR EXPORT TAX SEEN UNLIKELY - ANALYSTS
BRUSSELS, June 22 (Reuters) - The introduction of a sugar export tax in top grower Brazil is unlikely as the country is a firm advocate of free market trade policies, analysts said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the F.O. Licht Sugar Trade Outlook conference, Geraldine Kutas, a senior adviser with Brazilian sugarcane industry group UNICA, said the government had floated the idea in response to high domestic ethanol prices, but introduction of such a tax was unlikely.

U.S. GOVT CUTS USE OF NEXT-GENERATION BIOFUELS
WASHINGTON, June 21 (Reuters) - The dream of making a green motor fuel from switchgrass or wood chips got kicked down the road for a few more years after the U.S. government on Tuesday slashed its proposed mandate for next-generation biofuels.
For the second year in a row, the Environmental Protection Agency cut the amount of cellulosic ethanol that must be mixed into motor fuel.