Indonesia Plans Increase in Palm Oil-based Biodiesel In 2025

JAKARTA, July 24 (Reuters) – Indonesia, the world’s most significant 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 stated.

If implemented, the B40 required might increase biodiesel consumption to as much as 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 brought out in 2025,” energy ministry senior main Eniya Listiani Dewi stated in a statement on Tuesday.

The Indonesian Biofuel Producers Association (APROBI) said the market had the capability to fulfill B40 need, with installed capability anticipated to rise to 20 million KL yearly next year from 18 million KL now.

“However we will require more basic materials to fulfill B40 demand,” Ernest Gunawan, the secretary general of APROBI told Reuters on Wednesday.

The biodiesel market would need 13.9 million metric lots of unrefined palm oil to produce 16 million KL biodiesel next year, from the estimated 11 million loads needed this year, he included.

Indonesia’s biggest palm oil association GAPKI stated a decrease in exports indicated there would suffice basic materials to provide the B40 required for now.

But the market would need to evaluate “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 estimated to reach 54.4 million tons in 2024, a 2.26% boost from last year, while exports are anticipated to decrease by 2.47% to 29.5 million heaps as domestic consumption increased, driven by biodiesel mandate.

The ministry had evaluated the biodiesel, blended with 40% of palm oil, on a train for the very first time earlier this week, while preparing 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)