Indonesia Plans Increase In Palm Oil-based Biodiesel In 2025
JAKARTA, July 24 (Reuters) - Indonesia, the world's biggest palm oil manufacturer, is testing fuel with a view to increasing to 40% from 35% the share of palm-oil mixed into biodiesel next year, the energy ministry said.
If executed, the B40 required could increase biodiesel consumption to approximately 16 million kilolitres (KL) next year, the ministry said, from 13 million KL estimated to be consumed in 2024.
"We hope the trials might be finished in December, so that complete application of B40 could be performed in 2025," energy ministry senior Listiani Dewi said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Indonesian Biofuel Producers Association (APROBI) stated the industry had the capacity to fulfill B40 demand, with set up capability anticipated to increase to 20 million KL each year next year from 18 million KL now.
"However we will need more raw products to fulfill B40 demand," Ernest Gunawan, the secretary general of APROBI informed Reuters on Wednesday.
The biodiesel industry would need 13.9 million metric lots of unrefined palm oil to produce 16 million KL biodiesel next year, from the estimated 11 million heaps required this year, he added.
Indonesia's most significant palm oil association GAPKI stated a decline in exports implied there would suffice raw materials to supply the B40 required for now.
But the market would require to assess "which one would be more valuable", GAPKI chairman Eddy Martono stated, describing the possibility an increase in exports would make supplying the domestic market less practical.
Indonesia's palm oil output is estimated 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 tons as domestic consumption rose, driven by biodiesel required.
The ministry had actually tested the biodiesel, blended with 40% of palm oil, on a train for the very first time previously this week, while preparing to check the B40 mix on agriculture machinery, 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)
