Indonesia Plans Increase In Palm Oil-based Biodiesel In 2025
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 stated.
If executed, the B40 mandate could increase biodiesel intake to up to 16 million kilolitres (KL) next year, the ministry stated, from 13 million KL estimated to be consumed in 2024.
"We hope the trials could be finished in December, so that full implementation of B40 could be performed in 2025," energy ministry senior official Eniya Listiani Dewi said in a declaration on Tuesday.
The Indonesian Biofuel Producers Association (APROBI) stated the industry had the capability to satisfy B40 need, with installed capacity anticipated to rise to 20 million KL each year next year from 18 million KL now.
"However we will need more raw materials to fulfill 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 lots required this year, he included.
Indonesia's most significant palm oil association GAPKI stated a decrease in exports indicated there would be sufficient basic materials to supply the B40 required in the meantime.
But the market would need to assess "which one would be better", GAPKI chairman Eddy Martono said, describing the possibility a boost in exports would make supplying the domestic market less feasible.
Indonesia's palm oil output is approximated to reach 54.4 million lots in 2024, a 2.26% boost from last year, while exports are expected to decrease by 2.47% to 29.5 million lots as domestic usage increased, driven by biodiesel mandate.
The ministry had actually checked the biodiesel, blended with 40% of palm oil, on a train for the first time earlier today, while preparing to test the B40 mix on agriculture machinery, power plants and in the shipping market, it said. ( by Bernadette Christina and Dewi Kurniawati; Writing by Stanley Widianto; Editing by John Mair, Savio D'Souza and Barbara Lewis)
