Indonesia Plans Increase in Palm Oil-based Biodiesel In 2025
JAKARTA, July 24 (Reuters) – Indonesia, the world’s most significant palm oil producer, is evaluating fuel with a view to increasing to 40% from 35% the share of palm-oil mixed into biodiesel next year, the stated.
If implemented, the B40 mandate could increase biodiesel usage to up to 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 finished in December, so that complete 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) said the market had the capacity to meet B40 demand, with installed capacity expected to rise to 20 million KL each year next year from 18 million KL now.
“However we will need more basic materials to meet B40 need,” 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 included.
Indonesia’s most significant palm oil association GAPKI said a decline in exports indicated there would be sufficient raw products to provide the B40 required in the meantime.
But the market would require to assess “which one would be more important”, GAPKI chairman Eddy Martono said, referring to the possibility a boost in exports would make providing the domestic market less viable.
Indonesia’s palm oil output is estimated to reach 54.4 million tons in 2024, a 2.26% increase 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 checked the biodiesel, blended with 40% of palm oil, on a train for the very first time earlier this week, while planning to evaluate the B40 mix on agriculture equipment, power plants and in the shipping industry, it said. (Reporting by Bernadette Christina and Dewi Kurniawati; Writing by Stanley Widianto; Editing by John Mair, Savio D’Souza and Barbara Lewis)
