JAKARTA, July 24 (Reuters) - Indonesia, the world's biggest palm oil manufacturer, is evaluating fuel with a view to increasing to 40% from 35% the share of palm-oil combined into
biodiesel next year, the energy ministry said.
If implemented, the B40 required could increase
biodiesel consumption to approximately 16 million kilolitres (KL) next year, the
ministry said, from 13 million
KL approximated to be consumed in 2024.
"We hope the trials might be completed in December, so that complete application of B40 could be performed in 2025," energy ministry senior main Eniya Listiani Dewi said in a declaration on Tuesday.
The Indonesian
Biofuel Producers Association (APROBI) said the industry had the capacity to fulfill B40 need, with installed capacity
anticipated to
increase to 20 million KL every year next year from 18 million KL now.
"However we will need more raw materials to meet B40 need," Ernest Gunawan, the secretary general of APROBI told Reuters on Wednesday.
The
biodiesel market would need 13.9 million metric lots of crude palm oil to produce 16 million KL
biodiesel next year, from the estimated 11 million tons required this year, he included.
Indonesia's biggest palm oil association GAPKI stated a decrease in exports implied there would be adequate
basic materials to supply the B40 mandate for now.
But the market would
require to assess "which one would be better", GAPKI chairman Eddy Martono stated, describing the
possibility a boost in exports would make
providing the
domestic market less feasible.
Indonesia's palm oil output is approximated to reach 54.4 million tons in 2024, a 2.26% boost from in 2015, while exports are
anticipated to decline by 2.47% to 29.5 million tons as
domestic consumption rose, driven by
biodiesel required.
The
ministry had tested the biodiesel, combined with 40% of palm oil, on a train for the very first time earlier today, while
planning to test the B40 mix on agriculture equipment, power plants and in the shipping market, it said. (
Reporting by Bernadette Christina and Dewi Kurniawati; Writing by Stanley Widianto;
Editing by John Mair, Savio D'Souza and Barbara Lewis)
