A series of district meetings aimed at informing MFA Oil delegates about the company’s performance, products, pricing outlook and other news recently concluded. Each of the six district managers discussed their region’s fuel volume, patronage, key performance indicators they are monitoring to improve delivery efficiency, and the company’s ongoing search for acquisition opportunities.
Biodiesel Guest Speaker
After the district managers’ presentations, Charlie Poster, a fuel consultant working with the Missouri Soybean Association, spoke about the benefits biodiesel offers to farmers and studies have shown the biodiesel industry has increased the price of soybeans by at least 63 cents per bushel.
“If you look at the national soybean yield average of 49 bushels per acre, biodiesel is adding $30.87 per acre to your soybeans,” Poster told the farmer-owners in attendance. “For someone with 1,000 acres of soybeans, that’s an extra $30,870 in value that’s going back to your farm.”
Poster acknowledged there were some quality issues with biodiesel when the industry was gearing up more than a decade ago, but reassured attendees that biodiesel producers have since adopted strict standards and more than 92% of the renewable fuel that is sold today comes from accredited sources. He encouraged farmers who are interested in burning biodiesel in their equipment to contact their local plant manager.
Lubricant Rebranding Introduction
Don North, director of product development, took the floor next to introduce the new Work Horse brand of lubricants that MFA Oil will debut later this year. North briefly discussed two new, reformulated products that will be part of the Work Horse line: a heavy-duty grease with 5% moly and X-Tra Guard Universal Tractor Fluid, which will take the place of GP Hydraulic Fluid.
Market Commentary
To wrap up the meetings, Hedging Manager Tim Danze and Vice President of Supply and Government Affairs James Greer shared their views on the fuel market. Danze is monitoring new low-sulfur fuel regulations the International Maritime Organization will begin to enforce on January 1, 2020. There’s a chance the change in the fuel specification for ocean-going ships could reverberate across the supply chain and influence the market for on-road diesel. Danze also provided brief comments on crude oil production trends, gasoline and distillates stocks, and how he expects the broader fuel market to perform in the coming months.
Greer covered state and federal issues such as the Trump Administration’s push for year-round sales of E-15, fuel taxes increases and potential impacts of the Food and Drug Administration’s ban on the sale of flavored cigarettes in convenience stores.