Unlike U.S. biodiesel exports and imports in 2014, which Biodiesel Magazine reported on March 9 were down from the previous year, Germany experienced an increase in both last year compared to 2013.

According to Agricultural Market Information Co. and figures from the German Federal Statistical Office, Germany’s biodiesel exports last year hit approximately 506.7 million gallons, or just less than 6 percent growth over the 480 million gallons of biodiesel exported in 2013. This uptick pales in comparison to the marked jump in German biodiesel exports from 2012-’13, however, when the country saw nearly 32 percent growth in biodiesel exports, from 364.4 million gallons in 2012 to 480 million gallons in 2013. Conversely, 2011-’12 saw nearly a 10 percent decline; the only deviation in an otherwise growing biodiesel export trend since 2009.

Destinations within the EU remained top recipients of German biodiesel in 2014, with the Netherlands taking the lead at nearly 180 million gallons, roughly 35 percent of all German biodiesel exports. France took in 66.5 million gallons, doubling its volume of German biodiesel from 2013. Poland imported nearly 43 million gallons of German biodiesel in 2014.

Germany’s imports of biodiesel rose in 2014 for the first time since 2010, from 167.8 million gallons in 2013 to 172.3 million gallons last year, or more than a 2.5 percent increase. Imports peaked in 2010 at 378.5 million gallons and had been on a steady decline through 2013 until the slight increase last year. According to AMI, a “significant rise from 2013 was seen in imports from France, Italy and Austria, among other countries.”