A Chinese biofuel company has become the first private enterprise to export sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from China, exporting 13,400 tonnes to an international buyer.
Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech announced on 7 May that its subsidiary biofuel plant completed the sale after obtaining an export license, but did not state where the shipment was bound for.
According to an earlier announcement by the company, it was included in a government “exporter whitelist” last month – the first private company to be added. This allows Zhejiang Jiaao to export all of its maximum annual output of about 370,000 tonnes of SAF this year.
Several other biofuel manufacturers have also applied for SAF export licenses and are expected to be approved soon, reported WeChat energy channel Global Zero Carbon.
China does not currently have a harmonised system (HS) code – an internationally standardised numerical identifier classifying traded products – for SAF. In its place, customs authorities allowed Zhejiang Jiaao use of the HS code for “jet fuel (excluding biodiesel)”, setting a precedent for future SAF exporters, the channel noted.
Exports of the fuel’s raw material, used cooking oil (UCO), have mostly been destined for the EU, which accounted for over 90% of Chinese UCO exports in 2023, noted Environmental Economics Magazine. The high EU demand will likely be reflected in SAF exports as well, given the bloc’s January rule that all departing flights must use fuel containing more than 2% SAF from 2025, the magazine added.
China’s domestic demand for SAF is also expected to grow, with several internal commercial flights having trialled use of the fuel in late 2024. That year, the country’s completed SAF projects reached an annual production capacity of 350,000 tonnes, and its announced planned production capacity exceeded 3.53 million tonnes, according to Caijing.
In December, China cancelled the export tax rebate for UCO in order to meet the production needs of domestic biodiesel and SAF manufacturers, according to China Biofuel.
Read Dialogue Earth’s previous analysis on the challenges of boosting sustainable aviation fuel production in China.