Taking stock of the evolution of the biodiesel industry in Brazil: Business concentration and structural traits

Abstract

[EN] The Brazilian biodiesel industry has rapidly developed under the National Biodiesel Production and Use Programme (PNPB) launched in 2004, which is to be replaced by a new regulatory framework that is now under discussion. This paper aims to take stock of the evolution of the structure of the biodiesel industry in this country under the implementation of the PNPB -between 2005 and 2016- and to understand its current traits. The research combines a dynamic analysis of the industrial concentration indexes (closing the time gap with previous studies on this matter) and a multivariate analysis of the productive characteristics of the biodiesel plants operating in 2016. Results show that, following a period of de-concentration between 2005 and 2011, the industry entered in a stage of certain stability in the concentration indexes. This picture disguises the exit of biodiesel plants and firms from this market and a number of business acquisitions in the last period. The static analysis has allowed for the identification of different 'business models' regarding the scale of the plants and the diversification/specialisation patterns of both raw materials and outputs.